'^' 













oK 

^ .^%^... \.^<* „*^fev *^^^^^ •'^^'''° \J 





.0- 



<*. 




















;>V^^ -^ .<^ ^^ 



" ./ ,.. V ^-°' y ^^ ^• 






*— ' ■^ . - s * 















«> ^o. 



l:i5 123 121 II'J 117 116 ii;< 111 




ACQUISITION^ AND TKANSFER 
OF TERRITORY. 

1780 to 1870. 
BASED ON U. S. CENSUS MAP, 1870. 

36 West from Washington. 28 



YOUNG FOLKS' 



HISTORY OF TIE UNITED STATES. 



BY 

THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON, 

ti 

AUTHOR OF "ATLANTIC ESSAYS," "YOUNG FOLKS' BOOK OF AMERICAN EXPLORERS,' 

"HINTS ON WRITING AND SPEECHMAKING," "STUDIES OF AMERICAN 

AUTHORS," ETC., ETC. 



JUlustratcO. 



NEW YORK 

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 

LONDON AND BOMBAY 
1903 






Copyright, 1875, 
By Thomas Wentworth Higginson. 



Copyright, 1S86, 
By Thomas Wentworth Higginson 



Copyright, 1902, 
By Thomas Wentworth Higginson. 



Presswork by 
S. J. Parkhili. & Co., Boston, U.S.A. 



PREFACE. 



TT is the aim of this book to tell the story of the 
•^ United States in a clear and simple manner, for 
young and old. In writing it, I have adopted two plain 
rules, — to omit all names and dates not really needful, 
and to make liberal use of the familiar traits and inci- 
dents of every day If there is any merit in the design, 
it belongs largely to my honored friend, George B. 
Emerson, Esq., of Boston, from whom the first sugges- 
tion of the work came, and by whose kind co-operation 
it has been carried through. I am indebted, also, to Rev. 
George E. Ellis, D.D., to Richard Frothingham, 
Esq., and to Francis Parkman, Esq., for valuable hints 
and criticisms; and to Rev. J. G. Palfrey, D.D., and 
the Maine Historical Society, for permission to use 
important maps, originally engraved for them. 

It will be noticed that less space than usual is given, 
in these pages, to the events of war, and more to the 
affairs of peace. This course has been deliberately 
pursued. It is desirable, no doubt, that the reader 

iii 



IV PREFACE. 

should fully understand the way in which every impor- 
tant war began and ended, and that he should read 
enough of the details to know in what spirit it was 
carried on. Beyond this, the statistics of sieges and 
battles are of little value, and are apt to make us forget 
that the true glory of a nation lies, after all, in orderly 
progress. Times of peace, the proverb says, have few 
historians ; but this may be more the fault of the histo- 
rians than of the tinies. 

T. W. H. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGB 

I. The Earliest Inhabitants i 

II. The Mound-Builders 5 

III. The American Indians 13 

IV. The Coming of the Northmen 25 

V. The Coming of Columbus 31 

VI. The Successors of Columbus 40 

VII. How America was explored and settled .... 46 

VIII. The Massachusetts Colonies 55 

IX. The other New England Colonies 65 

X. Colonial Days in New England 74 

XI. Old Dutch Times in New York and New Jersey , . . S8 

XII. The Friends in Pennsylvania and the Swedes in Delaware . 101 

XIII. The Old Dominion at»d Maryland 110 

XIV. The Southern Colonies 124 

XV. The Indian Wars 131 

XVI. The French and Indian Wars 142 

XVII. The Beginning of the Revolution 159 

XVIII. Concord, Lexington, and Bunker Hill 178 

XIX. Washington takes Command 188 

XX. The Declaration of Independence 194 

XXI. The Remainder of the War 202 

XXII. After the War 214 

XXIII. Washington and Adams 220 

XXIV. Jefferson's Administration 235 

XXV. Madison and Monroe, the War of 181 2, and the Era of 

Good Feeling 248 

▼ 



VI TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXVI. Adams and Jackson. — Internal Improvements. — Nullifica- 
tion and the Anti-slavejry Movement .... 259 
XXVII. Van Buren, Harrison, Tyler, and the Annexation of Texas 267 

XXVIII. Polk and the Mexican War 27J 

XXIX. The Approach of the Civil War. — Taylor, Fillmore, and 

Pierce 280 

XXX. The Opening of the Civil War. — Buchanan . . .286 
XXXI. The Civil War. — Lincoln ...... 293 

XXXII. After the Civil War. — Grant 322 

XXXIII, Hayes. — Garfield. — Arthur. — Harrison. — Cleveland. — 

McKinley 330 

Appendix. 

I. Books for Consultation. 
II. List of Presidents and Vice-Presidents. 

III. List of States and Territories. 

IV. Area of the United States. 
V. Declaration of Independence. 

VI. Constitution of the United States. 

Chronological. Table 379 

Index 391 



YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES, 



CHAPTER I. 

THE EARLIEST INHABITANTS. 

WHO were the very first men and women that important 
ever trod the soil of North America ? Of what 'i^^^*^^"^- 
race were they, of what color, of what size ? and how 
did they look ? History cannot answer these questions. 
Science can only say, " Perhaps we shall find out ; but 
we do not yet know." 

We know already a good deal about the changes in Changes h 

1 r 1 XT 1 » • ^ • tlie Conti- 

form and appearance or the North American Contment nent. 
itself. We know that a large part of it was at one 
time covered with a thick coating of ice, a sort of vast 
glacier which several times stretched itself farther south- 
ward, as the climate grew colder, and then shrank to 
smaller size again, as the climate, during unknown 
ages, grew milder. We know that the whole surface of 
the continent has risen or sunk, irregularly, at various 
times ; so that the sea once covered much that is now 
dry land. We know that plants and animals of species Extinct 
now unknown have existed in many parts of the conti- ^^^^ ^ 
nent. The reindeer, which is now found only in the far 



2 TOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

north, once roamed as far south as Kentucky. The 
monkey, which is now found in South America, was 
Extinct once an inhabitant of North America also. The rhi- 
noceros is now found only in Asia and Africa ; but sev- 
eral distinct species once existed in North America, 
one of these being as large as an elephant. There 
were, at least, five different species of camel, some of 
them reaching a very large size. Wild horses, or horse- 
like animals, of at least thirty different species, have at 
different times galloped or grazed in North America, 
though the first European explorers did not find a sin- 
gle species surviving. Some of these had three toes on 
each foot, some had four, instead of the solid hoofs of 
our present horses ; and there were cloven-footed ani- 
mals no larger than squirrels ; while others, again, were 
as large as elephants. There were also gigantic animals 
of the sloth family, and, in short, a great variety of 
quadrupeds now unknown. No written history tells of 
them ; we do not know whether human eyes ever saw 
most of them : but there are the bones in the soil ; and 
new explorations, especially in Colorado, are constantly 
bringing more and more species to the light. 
Mammoth But most remarkable among all these fossil animals 
don. were two great quadrupeds akin to the elephant, and 

called the "mammoth" and the "mastodon." They 
once went trampling through the forests, tearing down 
the branches of trees for food; and they sometimes 
sank and died in the swamps, unable to move theii 
huge weight out of the mire. They were ten or twelve 
feet high (taller than any living elephant) ; and their 
tusks have been found eleven feet long. We know 
their shape and size and appearance; and we know 



4 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

that their race must have existed on the soil of North 
Man may America for thousands of years. Whether men lived 
heJe with at the samc time with them on the American Conti- 
*^®"^' nent we do not know with certainty : yet there can 

be Httle doubt that it was so. In France there have 
been found rude drawings of the mammoth, made by 
men on ivory and slate, and mingled with remains 
of extinct animals in caves. In America no such pos- 
itive proofs have been discovered ; but human bones 
and flint implements have been found mingled with 
these animal remains. It is very possible that the 
mammoth and the mastodon were gradually destroyed 
by men. In Southern Africa all the men of a village 
go out to hunt an elephant ; and, in spite of his great 
size, they kill him with bows and arrows. So it is pos- 
sible that the flint implements found with the bones of 
tJiese larger quadrupeds may be the very knives and 
arrow-heads that killed them ; and perhaps this is all 
that ever will be known of the way in which that mighty 
race disappeared from the surface of the earth. But, 
at any rate, the mastodons and mammoths perished at 
last ; and the men and women who had looked on them 
passed away likewise, leaving only obscure and scat- 
tered memorials of themselves. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 



AFTER the last mammoth was slain, it is possible Mound- 
that many centuries may have passed before the ^^^^*^®" 
Mound-Builders came to occupy the soil where these 
animals had been. The Mound-Builders were a race 
of men who never saw the mammoth, we may be very 
sure ; or else they would have carved or painted its 
likeness, as they did those of the birds and beasts they 
knew. But, though they made pictures of these crea- 
tures, they unfortunately did not make equally distinct 
pictures of themselves ; so 



that we do not know what 
they looked like ; and, as they 
wrote no books, we do not 
know what language they 
spoke. All that we know of 
them is from the wonderful 
works of industry and skill 
that they left behind, and es- 
pecially from certain great 
mounds of earth they built. 
It is from these great works 
that they derive their name. the serpent mound. 

One of the most remarkable of these mounds is to 

5 




YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The 

Serpent 
mound. 



Other 

mounds 
and their 
uses. 



Where 
other 
mounds 
are. 



be seen in Adams County, Ohio. It represents an 
immense snake a thousand feet long, and five feet 
thick, lying along a bluff that rises above a stream. 
There you can trace all the curves and outlines of the 
snake, ending in a tail with a triple coil. In the open 
mouth, something in the shape of an egg seems to be 
held ; and this egg-shaped mound is one hundred and 
sixty feet long. This shows on what a vast scale these 
earth-works are made. Sometimes they are shaped 
like animals, sometimes like men. In some places 
there are fortifications, often enclosing one or two acres 
of ground, and in some cases four hundred acres. 
Sometimes these earth-works have from fourteen to 
sixteen miles of embankment. In other places there 
are many small mounds arranged in a straight line, 
at distances nearly equal, and extending for many 
miles. These are supposed to have been used for send- 
ing signals from station to station across the country. 
Then, in other places, there are single mounds, some- 
times sixty feet high, or even ninety, with steps cut in 
the earth upon one side, leading up to the top, which 
is flat, and sometimes includes from one to five acres 
of ground. 

These mounds are scattered all down the valley of 
the Mississippi, and along many of its tributary streams. 
There are thousands of them, large or small, within the 
single State of Ohio. They are not made of earth alone, 
for some of them show brick-work and stone-work here 
and there, though earth is always the chief material. 
Some of them have chambers within, and the remains 
of wooden walls; and sometimes charred wood is 
found on top, as if fires had been kindled there. This 



THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 7 

fact is very important, as it helps us to understand the 
purpose of the higher mounds ; for in Central America Mounds in 
there are similar mounds, except that those have on America, 
their tops the remains of stone temples and palaces. So 
it is supposed that the higher mounds of the Mississippi 
Valley may have been built for purposes of worship ; 




THE HOPETON WORKS, IN OHIO. 



and that, although their summits are now bare, yet the 
charred wood may be the remains of sacrificial fires, or 
of wooden temples that were burned long ago. 

It is certain that these Mound-Builders were in some Engineer, 
ways well advanced in civilization. All their earth- 
works show more or less of engineerirg skill. They 



ing skill. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Shape 
of the 
mounds. 



vary greatly in shape : they show the square, the circle, 
the octagon, the ellipse ; and sometimes all these fig- 
ures are combined in one series of works. But the 
circle is always a true circle, and the square a true 
square ; and, moreover, there are many squares that 
measure exactly one thousand and eighty feet on a side, 
and this shows that the Mound-Builders had some defi- 
nite standard of measurement. 




GRADED WAY IN OHIO. 



Oontentaof There have been found in these mounds many tools 

mounda. ^^^ ornaments, made of copper, silver, and valuable 

stones. There are axes, chisels, knives, bracelets, and 

beads; there are pieces of thread and of cloth; and 



THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 

gracefully ornamented vases of pottery. The Mound- 
Builders knew how to model in clay a variety of objects, 
such as birds, quadrupeds, 
and human faces. They 
practised farming, though 
they had no domestic ani- 




VASES FROM THE MOUNDS. 



mals to help them. They had neither horses nor oxen 
nor carts ; so that all the vast amount of earth required 
for these mounds must have been carried in baskets 
or skins ; and this shows 

that their population .<#r\\XN Popuiatioa 

must have been very nu- 
merous, or they never 
could have attempted so 
much. They mined for 
copper near Lake Supe- 
rior, where their deserted 
mines may still be seen. 
In one of these mines 
there is a mass of copper 

weighing nearly six tons, partly raised from the bottom, copper 
and supported on wooden logs, now nearly decayed. °"""*^- 




ANCIENT MINING SHAFT. 



XO YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

It was evidently being removed to the top of the mine, 
nearly thirty feet above; and the stone and copper 
tools of the miners were found lying about, as if the 

men had just gone away, 
rroofs of Now, when did this ancient race of Mound-Builders 
•ntiquity. jj^^ j Thcrc is not a line of their writing left, so far 
as is now known ; nor is there any distinct tradition 
about them. But there is one sure proof that they lived 
very long ago. At the mouth of this very mine just 
described there are trees, nearly four hundred years old, 
growing on earth that was thrown out in digging the 
mine. Of course, the mine is older than the irees. 
On a mound at Marietta, O., there are trees eight hun- 
dred years old. The mounds must, of course, be as 
old as that, and nobody knows how much older. It is 
very probable that this mysterious race may have built 
these great works more than a thousand years ago. 
Were they It IS vcry natural to ask whether the Mound-Builders 
torsTf'the were the ancestors of our present American Indians, 
present j^- jg ^q^ ^t all Certain that they were, because the 

American ■' 

Indians? habits of the two races are quite different. Most 
Indian tribes now show nothing of the skill and indus- 
try required for these great works. The only native 
tribes that seem to have a civilization of their own are 
certain races, called Pueblo Indians (meaning village 

Pueblo Indians), in New Mexico. These tribes live in vast 
stone buildings, holding, sometimes, as many as five 
thousand people. These buildings are usually placed 
on the summits of hills, and have walls so high as only 
to be reached by ladders. The Pueblo Indians dress 
neatly, live in families, practise various arts, and are 
utterly different from the rovmg tribes farther north. 



IiKllans. 



THE MOUND-BUILDERS. 



II 



But, after all, the style of building of even the Pueblo 
Indians is wholly unlike anything we know of the 
Mound-Builders ; for the Mound-Builders do not seem 
to have erected stone buildings, nor do the Pueblo 
Indians build lofty mounds. 




PUEBLO BUILDING, AS IT NOW APPEARS. 



Perhaps the Mound-Builders will always remain a good Possible 
deal of a mystery. They may have come from Asia, or 
have been the descendants of Asiatics accidentally cast 
on the American shore. Within the last hundred years 
no less than forty Japanese vessels have been driven 
across the Pacific Ocean by storms, and wrecked on 
the Pacific coast of North America ; and this may have 



12 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



happened as easily a thousand years ago as a hundred. 
It is certain that some men among the Mound-Builders 
had reached the sea in their travels; for on some of 
their carved pipes there are representations of the seal 
and of the manati, or sea-cow, — animals which they 




PUEBLO BUILDING, RESTORED. 



could only have seen by travelling very far to the east 
or west, or else by descending the Mississippi River to 
Our limited its mouth. But wc know neither whence they came nor 
of them. ^^ whither they went. Very few human bones have been 
found among the mounds ; and those found had almost 
crumbled into dust. We only know that the Mound- 
Builders came, and built wonderful works, and then 
made way for another race, of whose origin we know 
almost as little. 



CHAPTER 111 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 



WHEN the first European explorers visited the Appear- 
Atlantic coast of North America, they found ^^^' 
it occupied by 
roving tribes of 
men very unlike 
Europeans in 
aspect. They 
were of a cop- 
per-color, with 
high cheek- 
bones, small 
black eyes, and 
straight black 
hair. They 
called them- 
selves by vari- 
ous names in 
different parts 

of the country, such as Mohegans, Pequots, Massachu- Namee of 
setts, Narragansetts, Hurons, and Wampanoags. But *"^^^' 
they almost all belonged to two great families, the Al- 
gonquins and the Iroquois ; these last being commonly 
called the " Six Nations." The Europeans named them 

13 




INDIAN WIGWAMS. 



14 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

all " Indians/' because all the first explorers supposed 
that North America was only the eastern part of India. 

Manner of Thcse tribcs of nativcs differed very much in some 
respects as to their mode of life. Some were warlike, 
others peaceful. Some lived only by hunting, others 
had fields of waving corn, and raised also beans, pump- 
kins, tobacco, American hemp, and sunflowers, — these 

Dwellings, last for the oil in the seeds. Some had only little tents 
of skin or bark, called " wigwams ; " others built perma- 
nent villages, with streets, and rows of houses. These 
houses were sometimes thirty feet high, and two hun- 
dred and forty feet long, and contained as many as 
twenty families. They were built of bark, supported 
by wooden posts ; they had a slit, about a foot wide, 
the whole length of the roof, to let the light in, and the 
smoke out. The fires were built on the ground, in a 
row, under the long opening. 

Roying^dis- But, howcver Carefully they may have built their 
houses, all these Indians were alike in being a roving 
race, living in the open air most of their time, and very 
unwilling to be long confined to one place. They were 
always moving about, changing their abode at different 
seasons of the year, or when they wished to. pursue a 
different kind of game. One of their commonest rea- 
sons for removing was that they had burned the woods 
immediately around them. So when the first white 
settlers came, and the Indians were puzzled to know 
why these strangers arrived, some of them thought that 
it must be because they had burned up all the wood in 
the country from which they came, and that they visited 
the American continent merely to find fuel. 

The Indians were not commonly equal to the Euro* 



position. 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 1 5 

peans in bodily strength ; they were not so strong in Oompari. 
the arms and hands, nor could they strike such heavy Ldians 
blows. But, on the other hand, their endurance was '1"^"''**' 
wonderful. They were very light of foot, so that their 
best runners could run seventy or eighty miles in a day ; 
and they could bear the greatest torture without utter- 
ing a groan. In the woods they could hear sounds and 
observe signs which no white man could perceive ; and 
they had the power of travelling for miles in a straight 
line through the thickest forest, being guided by the 
appearance of the moss and bark upon the trees. 

When the colonists first arrived, they found the In- Dress. 
dians dressed chiefly in the skins of animals, which 
they prepared by smoking them, instead of by tanning, as 
is now the practice. But they soon obtained blankets 
from the colonists, and decorated them with beads and 
shells and feathers. On great occasions, such as coun- 
cils and war-dances, the chiefs wore a great quantity ^ 
of these decorations, and also painted their faces with 
bright colors. The women, or " squaws " as they were 
called, had this same practice ; and one old Puritan 
clergyman wrote with great indignation, " The squaws 
use the sinful art of painting their faces." The women 
were more plainly dressed than the men, and, like 
them, sometimes tattooed their bodies. But the women 
wore their hair long, while the men commonly shaved 
theirs off, except one lock, called the "scalp-lock," which The eoajp 

-r T T lock. 

was left as a point of honor; so that, if one Indian 
killed another, he could cut off the scalp, lifting it by 
this lock. In summer they went about almost naked ; 
and one of the first white settlers complained that it 
was hard fighting hand to hand with an Indian, because 



t6 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Manufac- 
tures. 



Snow- 
shoes 



there was " nothing to hold on by but his hair," and 
not much of that. 

The food of the Indians was very simple ; it con- 
sisted of what they obtained by hunting and fishing, 
with pounded corn, acorns, berries, and a few vegeta- 
bles. They used tobacco, but had no intoxicating 
drinks till they got them from Europeans. They knew 
how to make rush mats and wooden mortars and earthen 
vessels. They made fish-hooks of bone, and nets out 
of the fibres of hemp. They made pipes of clay and 
stone, often curiously carved or moulded. They made 
stone axes and arrow-heads ; and these are often found 
in the ground to this day, wherever there is the site of 
an Indian village. They made beads, called "wam- 
pum," out of shells. After the Europeans came, they 

supplied the Indians 

W\ "^ fVir U ^'^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^'" beads, 
and with iron axes 
and arrow-heads, 
and, at last, with 
fire-arms. 

But the most in- 
genious inventions 
of the Indians were 
the snow-shoe and 
the birch canoe. The 
snow-shoe was made 
of a maple-wood 
frame, three or four 
feet long, curved and 
tapering, and filled 
This net-work was 




LEARNING TO USE SNOW-SHOES. 



in with a net-work of deer's hide. 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 

fastened to the foot by thongs, only a light elastic 
moccason being worn. Thus the foot was supported 
on the surface of the snow ; and an Indian could travel 
forty miles a day upon snow-shoes, and could easily 
overtake the deer and moose, whose pointed hoofs 
cut through the crust. The peculiar pattern varied 
with almost every tribe, as did also the pattern of 
the birch canoe. This was made of the bark of the Birch 
white birch, stretched over a very light frame of white °^°°®' 
cedar. The whole bark of a birch-tree was stripped 




BIRCH CANOE. 



off and put round the frame, without being torn. The how it 
edges were sewed with thongs cut from the roots of the ^^^^' 
cedar, and were then covered with pitch made from 
the gum of trees. If torn, the canoe could be mended 
with pieces of bark, fastened in the same way. The 
largest of these canoes were thirty feet long, and would 
carry ten or twelve Indians: they were very light, and 
could be paddled with ease. They were often very 
gracefully shaped, and drew very little water. The 
birch canoe and the snow-shoe are still much in use, 



i8 



YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 



Govern- 
ment. 



The 
"totem. 



not only among Indians, but among white men, in the 
northern parts of the United States and in Canada. 

Clans. Many of the Indian tribes were divided into smaller 

classes, or clans, distinguished by a mark, or totem, 
tattooed on the breast; such as the wolf, deer, tor- 
toise, beaver, bear, snipe, heron, hawk. Each class 
had one or more chiefs, or sachems, who represented it 
in the great councils. The sachem was commonly a 
man, but sometimes a woman ; and the first settlers in 
New England found a "great squaw sachem," who 
ruled over much country. These rulers did not govern 
by any written laws, but by fixed customs and tradition, 
which had great weight with the Indians ; and the sub- 
jects carried their best fruit and game to the sachem. 

Each class in a tribe was supposed to be particularly 
favored by the spirit of the animal represented in its 
totem. The Indians thought that all animals had pro- 
tecting spirits ; and they often addressed animals as if 
they were human. One of the early missionaries de- 
scribes an Indian who shot at a large bear, and wounded 
him. The bear fell wounded, and lay whining and groan- 
ing. The Indian went up to him, and said, "Bear, 
you are a coward, and no warrior. You know that 
your tribe and mine are at war, and that yours began 
it. If you had wounded me, I would not have uttered 
a sound; and yet you sit here and cry, and disgrace 
your tribe." 

Taeugioa- They believed that the winds and the stars had also 
spirits ; and they had many wild legends about such 
things, some of which are preserved in Longfellow's 
"Hiawatha." They believed in a God, or sometimes 
in many gods ; and they thought that they should live 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. I9 

again after death. When any warrior died, they buried 
his weapons with his body, that he might use them 
again in the happy hunting-grounds of the blest in 
heaven. Tlieir rehgious services were strange and 
noisy, with pecuHar songs and dances ; and they had 
"medicine-men," who were something between priests 
ana physicians, and claimed to cure by magic spells, 
as well as by the simple remedies they knew. The Language. 
Indians had no written language, but had ways of com- 
municating to one another by signs on rocks and trees. 
They had no money, but used wampum-beads for coins ; 
and these were so neatly made, and so convenient, that Their 
the first European settlers used them also, at the rate ^°^^^' 
of four black beads, or eight white beads, for a penny. 
They had belts made with this wampum, which were 
used to record all important events in the history of the 
tribe ; and treaties were thus kept in memory for years. 

Schoolcraft gives a copy of a drawing made by two Their 
Indian guides on a piece of birch bark. It was placed ^'t^g.°^ 
upon an upright pole, for the purpose of informing 
their comrades that a party of fourteen white men and 
two Indians had encamped at that place. 

The eight figures in the upper row, with hats on, and Expiana- 
with muskets beside them, represent as many white tur'^^o^n^'"' 
soldiers. In the second row, No. i represents the offi- ""^^^ ^^^^ 
cer in command, with a sword ; No. 2, with a book, the 
secretary ; No. 3, with a hammer, the geologist ; 4, 5, 6, 
attendants, one of these being the interpreter. Nos. 7 
and 8 represent the two guides, who are distinguished 
as Indians by being without hats. Figure 11 repre- 
sents a prairie-hen, and 12 a tortoise, which had been 
eaten by the party. Figures 13, 14, 15, mean that there 



20 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



were three separate fires. The slant of the pole showed 
the direction of the proposed march, and three notches 
in the wood showed that it was to be a three-days' 
expedition. 
The char- The Indians had great courage, self-control, and pa- 
iSdians.*^^ tience. They were grave and dignified in their man- 
ners, on important occasions : in their councils they were 
courteous to one another, and discussed all important 



V^V iljjjjjj 





5j 




Treatment 
of their 
captives 
and 
women. 



questions at great length. They were often kind and 
generous, and sometimes even forgiving ; but they gen- 
erally thought that sternness was a virtue, and forgiveness 
a weakness. They were especially cruel to captives, 
putting them to death with all manner of tortures, in 
which women took an active part. It was the custom 
among them for women to do most of the hard work, 
in order that the bodies of the men might be kept 
supple and active for the pursuits of the chase and war. 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 21 

When employed on these pursuits, the Indian men 
seemed incapable of fatigue ; but in the camp, or in 
travelling, the women carried the burdens, and, when a 
hunter had carried a slain deer on his shoulders for 
a long distance, he would throw it down within sight of 
the village, that his squaw might go and bring it in. 

Most of the Indian tribes lived in a state of con- Prepara- 
stant warfare with one another. When there was a warf 
quarrel between tribes, and war seemed ready to 
break out, strange ceremonies were used. Some lead- 
ing chief would paint his body black from head to foot, 
and would hide himself in the woods or in a cavern, 
i There he would fast and pray, and call upon the Great 
Spirit ; and would observe his dreams, to see if they 
promised good or evil. If he dreamed of a great 
war-eagle hovering before him, it was a sign of triumph. 
After a time he would come forth from the woods 
and return among his people. Then he would address 
them, summon them to war, and tell them that the 
Great Spirit was on their side. Then he would bid 
the warriors to a feast at his wigwam. There they 
would find him no longer painted in black, but in 
bright and gaudy colors, called " war-paint." The 
guests would be also dressed in paint and feathers, 
and would seat themselves in a circle. Then wooden 
trenchers containing the flesh of dogs would be placed 
before them ; while the chief would sit smoking his 
pipe, and would not eat anything. 

After the feast, the war-dance would follow, perhaps war-dance 
at night, amid the blaze of fires and lighted pine-knots. 
A painted post would be driven into the ground, and 
the crowd would form a wide circle round it. The 



22 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



war-chief would leap into the open space, brandishin| 
his hatchet, and would chant his own deeds and thos( 
of his fathers, acting out all that he described, anc 
striking at the post as if it were an enemy. Warrio 
after warrior would follow, till at last the whole banc 




INDIAN WAR DANCE. 



would be dancing, shouting, and brandishing thei 
weapons, striking and stabbing at the air, and filling 
the forest with their yells. 
Departure Much of the ulght would pass in this way. In th< 
morning the warriors would leave the camp in singh 
file, still decorated with paint and feathers and orna 
ments ; and, as they entered the woods, the chie 
would fire his gun, and each in turn would do the same 



from camp. 



THE AMERICAN INDIANS. 2$ 

Then they would halt near the village, would take off 
their ornaments and their finery, and would give all 
these things to the women, who had followed them for 
this purpose. Then the warriors would go silently and Mode of 
stealthily through the forest to the appointed place of ^^'^ ^^®" 
attack. Much of their skill consisted in these silent 
approaches, and in surprises and stratagems, and long 
and patient watchings. They attached no shame to 
killing an unarmed enemy, or to private deceit and 
treachery, though to their public treaties they were al- 
ways faithful. They were desperately brave, and yet 
they saw no disgrace in running away when there was 
no chance of success. Their weapons were, at first, the weapons, 
bow and arrow, and a sort of hatchet called a " toma- 
hawk ; " and they had shields of bison-hide, and some- 
times breastplates of twags interwoven with cord. Af- 
terwards they learned the use of fire-arms from the 
wdiites, and became skilful with these weapons, losing 
much of their skill with the bow and arrow. Some Defensive 
tribes built strong forts, with timber walls, palisades, 
banks, and ditches. In these forts they had magazines 
of stones to hurl down upon those who attacked them ; 
and there were gutters by which to pour down streams 
of water, should the fort be set on fire. 

When first visited by Europeans, the Indians along Their m-.m, 
the coast were already diminishing in number, through in^ less. 
war and pestilence ; and they have diminished ever 
since, in the older parts of the country, till many tribes 
have wholly disappeared. At first they were disposed 
to be friendly with the white men ; but quarrels soon 
arose, each side being partly to blame. The savages 
often burned villages, carried away captives, and laid 



24 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

Theindi- whole rcglons waste. In return, their villages and forts 
westward. Were destroyed, and their tribes were driven westward, 
or reduced to a mere handful. Some of these wars 
will be described farther on in this history ; and to this 
day some of the western settlements of the United 
States live in constant fear of attack from Indians. 
But the wilder tribes are passing away ; and in anothei 
century there will hardly be a roving Indian within the 
limits of the United States. Only those tribes will 
survive which have adopted, in part, the habits of 
civilization. 
Civilized Of the Indians now within the limits of the United 

thepreirnt Statcs, more than 150,000 are wholly or partly civilized. 
^^^- About half of these live on what are called " reserva- 

tions," in the Indian Territory ; while the rest are scat- 
tered through various Territories and States. Many of 
those in the Indian Territory, especially the Cherokees, 
Choctaws, and Creeks, are quite prosperous, having 
good farms, herds of cattle, and graded schools. Many 
boys and girls from the wilder tribes are being educated 
in schools at Hampton, Va., and Carlisle, Pa. 



T 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE COMING OF THE NORTHMEN. 

HERE is in the city of Newport, R.I., a pictu- om stone 
resque old building, the precise history of which 
is not known. It is commonly called the " Round 
Tower," or the " Old Stone Mill." It is built of stone, 
and consists of a low, circular tower, supported on eight 
arches. Within the memory of living men. there still 
remained a floor above these arches, making a second 
story to the building. There are two windows and a 
fireplace, but nothing to show for what use the building 
was originally employed. Yet it is not exactly a ruin, 
i since the cement in which the stones are embedded is 
as strong as ever, and the whole structure seems com- 
plete, except that it is roofless. The first mention of 
I this building is by Gov. Benedict Arnold in his will, 
I dated 1677 ; and he calls it "my stone-built windmill." 
' But it is so unlike any other windmill in America, that 
it was for a long time doubted whether it could have 
1 been built for that purpose. 

Some thirty-five years as^o, Professor Raf n, of the Book about 

P' T. 1 o • r XT 1 * . • ^ 1 the North- 

: Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries at Copenhagen, men. 
■ published a book showing that the Northmen, or Scan- 
dinavians, undoubtedly visited the shores of North 
f I America about a. d. iooo, and that they probably 

' 25 



26 



YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 



Dighton 

Rock. 



entered Narragansett Bay. It then occurred to some 
American antiquarians that this old building at New- 
port might have been erected by those early voyagers. 
Examination was also made at about the same time of 
an inscription on a rock near Dighton, Mass., called 
the " Dighton Rock ; '* and it was thought that some 
words of this were in the Norse language. Then it 
Skeleton in was remembered that a skeleton in a brass breastplate 
had been dug up at Fall River, Mass., a town lying 
between Dighton and Newport; and it was thought 
that this might be the remains of a Norse viking, or 
rover. The poet Longfellow has written a ballad 
about this " Skeleton in Armor." The skeleton was 
unfortunately destroyed not long after ; so that we do 
not know much about it ; but it is now known that the 
Norsemen did not use brass armor, while the American 
Indians sometimes used for breastplates pieces of brass 
kettles, which they got from the English colonists. 
The inscription at Dighton Rock is now supposed to 
have been made by the Indians, as it resembles many 
sculptured rocks in the interior of the continent; and 
the skeleton may have been that of an Indian warrior. 
And as for the "Old Stone Mill," it is found to be very 
much like some still standing in that very county in 
England from which Governor Arnold came. So it is 
not at all likely that any of these memorials could date 
back as far as the time of the Northmen ; and yet it is 
altogether probable that the Northmen visited America 
at a very early time. 

We must remember that the Northmen were great 
sailors, like their descendants, the Danes, Norwegians, 
and Swedes. It is rare to find a large crew of sailors 



Conclu- 
sions cor 
cerning 
these 
antiquities 



TKE COMING OF THE NORTHMEN. 

without a man in it who belongs to one of these na- 
tions; and their ancestors had the same love of the 
sea. Now, when we look on the map, we see that it 
does not look very far from Norway to Iceland, nor 
from Greenland to Labrador. When once arrived at 
Labrador, any bold sailor would be tempted to follow 
down the coast of North America. But the Northmen 




OLD STONE MILL." 



certainly settled Iceland a thousand years ago : and it settle, 
is known from the annals of Iceland that a colony was Se^NortL 
sent thence to Greenland, and there remained for a °^®^- 
long time ; and some of these emigrants may easily 
have sailed on to Labrador ; or some vessel bound for 
Greenland may have been driven too far west, and so 
reached the mainland without intending it. At any 



28 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Story of 
Leif the 
Lucky, 



Story of 
Thorwald. 



rate, it is recorded in the Norse traditions that the 
Northmen, in sailing west, actually arrived, about a. d. 
1000, at some country beyond Greenland. 

This is the way the story is told in the Norse books. 
A prince, named Leif the Lucky, son of Erik the Red, 
sailed west from Greenland with thirty-five men, one 
of whom was a German. After they had landed on 
a strange land, this German, named Tyrker, strayed ofif 
one day and was thought to be lost. When he came 
back, he talked German and rolled his eyes around 
and seemed out of his senses. But at last he said in 
the Norse language, " I have not been far ; but I have 
found something to tell of : I have found vines and 
grapes." 

" But is it true, my foster-brother ? " asked Leif. 

" Surely it is," he answered ; " for I came from the 
land of grapes and vines." 

" Then they slept for the night," the Norse narrative 
says; "but in the morning Lief said to his sailors, 'Now 
we shall have two jobs. Each day we will either gather 
grapes, or hew grape-vines, or fell trees, so there will 
be a cargo for my ship ; ' and that was the counsel 
taken. It is said that their long-boat was filled with 
grapes. Now was hewn a cargo for the ship, and when 
spring came they got ready and sailed off; and Lief 
gave a name to the land, after its sort, and called it 
*Vinland.' They sailed then afterwards into the sea, 
and had a fair wind until they saw Greenland." 

A year or two afterwards Leif's brother, Thorwald, 
wished to visit Vinland ; for he thought that the land 
had been too little examined. They came to the place 
where Leif had built huts. There they spent the win- 



THE COMING OF THE NORTHMEN. 29 

tcr, and in the spring went exploring along the shore 
*' to the westward." At last they saw three boats made 
of skin, with three men in each. These the Northmen 
attacked, and killed all but one. They were appa- 
rently Indians, called in the Norse legends " Skrael- 
ings." Then came from within the firth innumerable 
skin-boats, and made toward them. Thorwald said 
then, " We will set up our battle-shields, and guard ourv 
selves the best we can, but fight little against them." 
So they did ; and the Skraelings shot at them for a 
while, but then fled as fast as they could. But they 
had wounded Thorwald by an arrow, so that he died ; 
and this party of Norsemen also became discouraged 
and went back to Greenland the next spring. 

But Vinland was now well known ; and still larger visits of 
parties of Northmen came afterwards. They sent home Northmen 
very enthusiastic accounts of their new dwelling-place ; 
praising the grapes and the salmon and the soil, and 
saying that the day and night were more nearly equal 
than in Greenland or Iceland. The Indians, or Skrael- 
ings, soon came in skin-boats to trade with them. In 
one case the Skraelings were all busy selling furs for 
red cloth, when a bull that belonged to the strangers 
came bellowing out of the wood ; and the Skraelings 
jumped into their canoe and rowed away. The next 
time the Skraelings came it was as warriors ; and they 
attacked the Northmen with their arrows and could 
not be easily beaten off. So the strangers did not have 
an easy time. But they stayed there several winters ; 
and a woman named Gudrid had a son named Snorri, 
who was perhaps the first white child born on this 
continent. 



30 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Localities 
probably 
visited by 

the North- 



There is much more of this same sort in the tradi- 
tions of the Northmen ; but there is nothing to yield us 
any more definite knowledge. There is little doubt of 
their having reached the North American coast; but 
whether Vinland was Rhode Island, or Nova Scotia, or 
some other place, we perhaps shall never know. Foi 
a time it was thought that it must be Rhode Island. 
The Norse narratives describe a mild climate, with wild 
grapes ; and it was thought that this must refer to New- 
port, R.I., where there are plenty of these grapes on 
the islands in the harbor. But wild grapes grow in 
Nova Scotia also ; and the climate there might seem 
mild to those who had come from Iceland. This is all 
we know about the matter. Perhaps there may yet 
be found along the coast of New England some real 
memorial of the Northmen ; and in the mean time, if 
it were not for their own legends, it would be hard to 
•believe that they ever came. 



CHAPTER V, 



THE COMING OF COLUMBUS. 



WHATEVER may have been the truth about the America 
visit of the Northmen to America, it is certain, known'to 
that, if they came, they sailed away again, 'never to Europeans 
return. Even their colony in 
Greenland was at last aban- 
doned ; and the memory 
of Vinland almost disap- 
peared. For nearly five 
centuries, so far as we know, 
not a European vessel 
crossed the Atlantic. Some 
of the older people in Ice- 
land may have remembered 
that their grandparents had 
told them of a country far 
to the west, where vines 
grew ; and perhaps they 
used to tell these legends, 
in the long, dark evenings, 
to the Spanish and English 

sailors who went on trading voyages to Iceland. There 
came a time of great commercial activity among the 
nations of Southern Europe ; and voyages began to be 

31 




TOMB OF COLUMBUS. 



32 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

attempted in all directions. And one voyage was at 
last undertaken that was destined to make the New 
World known to the Old World. 
Christopher There was born at Genoa, in Italy, about 1435, ^ t)oy 
named " Cristoforo Colombo," or, in English, " Christo- 
pher Columbus." His father was a weaver of cloth, but 
his ancestors had been sailors ; and the little Columbus 
was sent to school at ten years old to learn navigation. 
At fourteen he went to sea ; and from that time, so long 
as he lived, he was either making voyages or else draw- 
ing charts. He lived in Portugal, then in Spain, these 
being the great seafaring nations at that day ; and he 
sailed to almost all the ports then known. Most of his 
voyages, however, were in the Mediterranean Sea. In 
these there was almost as much fighting as sailing ; for 
that sea was full of pirates. On one occasion his ship 
was burnt, and he swam six miles to shore with the aid 
of a spar. And throughout all these adventures he vras 
gradually forming the plan of sailing farther west upon 
the Atlantic than anyone had yet dared to sail. 
Common But it must bc remembered that the people of Eu- 

?he shape"* ^opc, in thosc days, did not know the real shape of the 
of the earth, as it is now known. Most persons did not sup- 

pose it to be a sphere. They thought it was a flat sur- 
face, with the ocean, like a great river, lying round 
about its edges. What was on the other side of this 
What river, they hardly dared to guess. Yet some scientific 

J^g^""^*^ men had got beyond this ignorant view ; and they sup- 
thought. posed the earth to be a sphere, but thought it much 
smaller than it really was. They did not dream that 
there could be room on it for two wide oceans and for 
two great bodies of land. They thought that there was 




f(^W^l^^/d F M E X I C 
MAP I. 

ABORIGINAL AMERICA. 



THE COMING OF COLUMBUS. 33 

but one continent on the globe, and one great ocean, 
and that, by saiUng across the Atlantic, you would 
come, after a time, to India and Tartary and Cathay (as 
they called China) and Cipango (as they called Japan). 
Many beautiful things were brought from those coun- 
tries overland, — gold and pearls and beautiful silks ; 
and so the kings of Europe would have been very glad 
to find a short way thither. This map shows clearly 
how the wisest men thought it might be done. The 
drawing was made by a friend of Columbus, in the very 
year when he made the first western voyage across the 
Atlantic. It shows the names of all the places just 
mentioned ; and it shows, moreover, how near at hand 
they were supposed to be, when the navigators of those 
days w^ere making the maps. 

Columbus studied such maps, or helped to draw conclusion 
them, and grew more and more convinced, that, if he co^umbus?' 
could only cross the unknown ocean, he would find 
India on the other side. Things often happened to 
confirm him in this opinion. Sailors from the Canary 
Islands told him of seeing land far in the west. His 
brother-in-law had seen a piece of curiously-carved 
wood, that had been washed on shore in Portugal, after 
a westerly gale. An old pilot had picked up a carved 
paddle at sea, a thousand miles west of the European 
coast. At Madeira, Columbus heard of pine trees that 
had been washed up ; and at the Azores they had found 
tropical cane-stalks on the beach ; and once the bodies 
of two men, of foreign dress and aspect, had been cast 
on shore. Then it is supposed that Columbus went to 
Iceland ; and there he may have heard legends of the 
early expeditions to Vinland. 



THE COMING OF COLUMBUS. 35 

For ten years he endeavored to persuade some Euro- Efforts of 
pean government to send him on a voyage of discovery S^obteta^ 
across the Atlantic Ocean. First he tried the repubUc *^'*" 
of Genoa, then the repubUc of Venice, and then the 
court of Portugal. For seven years he tried to interest 
the two sovereigns of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. 
At last they gave him an audience, and liked his plans 
very much ; but the Archbishop of Granada, who was 
present, thought that Columbus asked for too much 
power over the lands he expected to discover : so the 
archbishop objected. Columbus refused to lower his 
claims, and left the court. He had gone two leagues 
(six miles), when the queen sent for him to return ; 
and, when he had done so, the king and queen signed 
an agreement with him on his own terms. Isabella 
decided to fit out the expedition at the expense of her 
own kingdom of Castile, the chief of the kingdoms of 
which Spain was composed. 

In three months the expedition was ready to sail, his outfit. 
But sailors were unwilling to go ; and Columbus had 
to drive some of them by force into the service, as he 
had authority to do. There were three ships, — the 
"Santa Maria," the " Pinta," and the "Nina." The 
" Santa Maria " was a good-sized vessel, ninety feet 
long, and carrying sixty-six seamen. It ^vas decked 
all over, and had four masts, — two with square sails, 
and two with lateen-sails. The other vessels were 
smaller, and without decks : and they were all provis- 
ioned for a year. There were, in all, one hundred and 
twenty persons on this bold expedition. 

They sailed from Palos Aug. 3, 1492. It took his first 
them a month to reach the Canary Islands ; but after '^°y*^®* 



36 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

they had passed those, and found themselves on the 
lonely ocean at night, many of the sailors wept, and 
declared they never should return. Columbus quieted 
them, and they sailed on, day by day ; sometimes hope- 
ful, and sometimes mutinous. Once the sailors plotted 




FLEET OF COLUMBUS SAILING FROM PALOS. 



Signs that 
land was 
near at 
hand. 



to throw Columbus overboard. Often they thought 
they saw signs of land : once they were sure of it, and 
it proved only a cloud. At last land-birds were seen, 
and floating twigs with red berries, and a piece of wood 
rudely carved, and drifting seaweed, to which live crabs 
were clinging. Finally, one evening at ten o'clock, 
Columbus saw a light glimmering across the water; 



THE COMING OF COLUMBUS. 37 

and the next morning a gun was fired from one of the 
smaller vessels, as the signal agreed upon for " making 
land." It was a very welcome sound ; for they had been 
seventy-one days in crossing the ocean, which is now 
crossed by steamers in less than nine. The vessels 
" lay to " that night ; and the next morning the crew 
saw a wooded island six miles away, and crowds of 
natives running along the beach. 

We may imagine how Columbus felt, when, at day- Landing of 
break, he was rowed to the shore, with waving banners, ° "°^ "^' 
and to the sound of music, and when he stepped upon 
the beach where no European had ever before landed ! 
He bore the great flag of Spain, gorgeous with red and 
gold ; and his other captains bore each a green flag, 
inscribed with a cross. All knelt, and kissed the ground ; 
then Columbus, rising, and drawing his sword, took 
possession of the island in the name of Spain, and 
called it " San Salvador." 

He soon sailed farther on, visiting Cuba, Hayti, and ms other 
other West India islands ; but he did not reach the tTiesJ' 
mainland during this voyage. Returning to Spain, 
he was received with great honor : and a second expe- 
dition was fitted out under him, consisting of seventeen 
vessels and fifteen hundred men. With these he dis- 
covered the Windward Islands, — Jamaica and Porto 
Rico, — and founded a colony in Hayti ; the island 
being then called " Hispaniola," or "Little Spain." 

On his third voyage, in 1498, he had six ships, and 
reached the mainland of South America, though not till 
it had been visited by another navigator, Amerigo Ves- voyage of 
pucci, or Americus Vespucius. The voyage of Ameri- 
cus Vespucius was made in the winter of 1497-98. He 



38 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Naming 
the Con- 
tinent. 



Injustice 
to Colum- 
bus. 



His last 
voyage. 



was long supposed to have deceived the world in giving 
this date to his discovery ; but it is now pretty well 
established that he spoke the truth. Ten years after, 
a European geographer gave the continent the name of 
" Americi Terra," or the land discovered by Americus ; 
and thus it has borne his name ever since. It would 
have seemed more just that it should have borne the 
name of Columbus ; and Americus Vespucius, who was 
his friend, had probably no intention of taking this 
honor from him ; but this was the way it happened' 
Meanwhile Sebastian Cabot had reached the North 
American Continent before Columbus; so that the 
great navigator was not the first to set foot on the 
mainland. North or South. 

On this third voyage of Columbus, he touched at his 
colony of Hispaniola, where he found them all quarrel- 
ling ; and he was presently arrested by a Spanish com- 
missioner, Bobadilla, who had been sent out by the ene- 
mies of Columbus. He was carried on board ship in 
chains ; and when the officers of the ship wished to 
take them off, he refused, saying, " I will wear them as a 
memento of the gratitude of princes." Reaching Spain, 
he was released, but could get no redress from the king. 
The truth was, that King Ferdinand was quite dissatis- 
fied with the new countries, because they did not yield 
wealth enough. However, Columbus fitted out one more 
expedition, with four ships, and went on a final voyage, 
reaching the coast of North America at last, although he 
thought all his life that it was Asia he had visited. This 
last voyage was a sad one for him, as his own colony 
at Hispaniola refused to let him land ; and he was now 
old and weary, and as poor as ever. His one firm 



THE COMING OF COLUMBUS. 39 

friend, Queen Isabella, had died ; and he died himself Death of 
in 1506, aged about seventy years. Some years after, *^°^"°^^"®- 
King Ferdinand ordered a marble tomb to be placed 
upon his grave, with the inscription, " To Castile and 
Leon, Columbus gave a New World." But, more than 
two centuries after that, the remains of the great voya- 
ger were transferred to the great cathedral at Havana, 
that they might rest in the soil of tha^ New World 
which he had discovered. 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE SUCCESSORS OF COLUMBUS. 

John Cab- '^ ■ ^HE next important voyage to America was 
s paten. j_ planned by John Cabot, a merchant born at 
Venice, but living in Bristol, England. There had long 
been some commerce between Bristol and Iceland ; and 
it is very likely that John Cabot, like Columbus, had 
heard from Icelanders the tradition of the old Norse 
voyages. After a time he got from King Henry VII., 
of England a " patent," or permission, allowing himself 
and his three sons to cruise about the world, at their 
own expense, with five ships ; and to take possession, 
in the name of England, of countries hitherto unknown 
to Europeans. It was agreed that, whenever he had 
done so, nobody but the family of Cabot was to be 
allowed to trade with any such countries unless the 
Cabots gave permission. They were allowed to sail in 
any direction, — east, west, or north ; but what they 
really desired was to get to India by a northwest 
passage. At any rate, wherever they might go, one- 
fifth of the profits of their trade must be given to the 
King of England. 

First So John Cabot and his sons set sail in 1407. Sebas- 

Voyag*. , -' ^^ ' 

tian is the best known of these sons, and became more 
famous than even his father. We do not know exactly 
40 



THE SUCCESSORS OF COLUMBUS. 4I 

what their ships were ; but they probably looked like 
this picture, which is taken from a map made by Sebas- 
tian Cabot. We do not know much of their voyage ; He reaches 
only that they reached Labrador, and found it, as we 
may well suppose, cold and dismal. They said, when 
they got home, that the country was very barren, and 
that they had seen a great many white bears. They 




had not much more to say ; for they had not remained 
long, having reached home again in three months. 
Their maps and journals are all lost ; but we know 
that they were the first Europeans, after the Northmen, 
to visit the mainland of North America. 

A letter from a Venetian merchant, who was then in John 
London, says that great honors were paid to John return. 
Cabot on his return to England. He was called *' The 
Great Admiral," went about richly dressed in silk, and 



42 



YOUNG folks' united STATES. 



Sebastian 
Cabot. 



Ponce de 
Leon. 



was followed by crowds of admirers. The merchant's 
letter adds, " These Englishmen run about after him 
like mad people ; so that he can enlist as many of them 
as he pleases, and a number of our own rogues besides." 
A year after, in 1498, Sebastian Cabot sailed again 
with two ships and three hundred men ; some of these 
being Italian " rogues," very likely. Such expeditions 
were very popular among reckless and daring men in 
those days. The explorers again went to Labrador, 

and then sailed three thou- 
sand miles along the coast, 
as far as Maryland. They 
were gone six months, and 
then had to go back for 
provisions. This second 
voyage convinced Sebas- 
tian Cabot that the land 
they had discovered was 
not Asia, after all, but a 
new continent. He made 
still another voyage after 
this, and explored Hud- 
son's Bay. Sebastian Cabot lived to be a very old man, 
and had a pension from the king, and the title " The 
Great Seaman." He loved the sea so much, that, even 
while he was dying, his wandering thoughts were upon 
the ocean. It was said of him, " He gave England a 
continent — and no one knows his burial-place." 

The next expedition of which I have to tell is that of 
Ponce de Leon to the coast of Florida. There was a 
story told in Spain, and believed by many people, that 
there was somewhere in the regions discovered by 




SEBASTIAN CABOT. 



THE SUCCESSORS OF COLUMBUS. 43 

Columbus a wonderful fountain, whose waters would The won- 
restore youth to any one who should bathe in them, fountain. 
Ponce de Leon was a Spaniard and a brave soldier ; 
he had sailed with Columbus on his second voyage, and 
was finally made governor of the Island of Porto Rico. 
But he had heard of the fountain of youth, and resolved 
to discover it ; and so sailed westward from Porto Rico 
in March, 15 12, on that errand. At last, on Easter 
Sunday, — a day which Spaniards call Pascua Flor- 
ida, or Flowery Easter, — land was seen. It was the 
peninsula of Florida, then thought to be an island ; and 
its blossoming forests seemed to him so beautiful, that 
he gave it this name. 

Ponce de Leon landed near what is now St. Augus- 
tine. He explored the coasts and islands for many 
weeks, and then returned home. He visited the flowery 
land again, five years after, meaning to establish a 
colony, but was driven away by the Indians, was 
wounded with an arrow, and went back to Spain to die, 
without ever finding the fountain of youth. 

It would be interesting to tell of other voyages that other dis- 
took place in those' years, when the New World seemed 
to Europeans so very new. It is exciting to hear how 
Balboa, crossing the Isthmus of Darien in 15 13, came 
for the first time in sight of an unknown sea, — the 
vast Pacific Ocean ; how he knelt on the mountain-top 
from which he saw it, and thanked God for this great 
discovery ; and how, descending to the shore, he waded 
in, waist deep, and, waving his sword, took possession 
of the ocean for the king of Spain, and pledged him- 
self to defend it for his sovereign. It is interesting to 
read the adventures of Cortez, who conquered Mexico, 



44 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

and of Pizarro, who overcame Peru. But, as these 
things do not strictly belong to the history of the 
United States, this is not the place to describe them : 
and I shall only speak of one more of the early voy 
ages, that of Verrazzano, or Verrazzani, an Italian in 
• French employ. 
Voyage of Xhis voyagc is important, because Verrazzano has left 

Verrazzano. j <~> i 

us the earliest full description of the North American 
coast. He sailed from France, by way of Madeira, in 
1524, leaving that island with a single vessel, and 
spending fifty days before seeing land. At last he 
reached the shore of North Carolina, and followed it 
southward for a time ; then sailed northward, carefully 
examining the coast. He put into what is now the har- 
bor of New York, and afterwards into what is now the 
harbor of Newport, R. I. There he stayed a fortnight, 
trading with the Indians, and he mentions that he 
found vines and grapes there, just as the Northmen 
described them in Vinland, long before. Then he 
sailed along the New-England coast to Nova Scotia, 
still trading with the Indians on the way. His narra- 
tive, as translated in an old collection of voyages, 
describes the savages as " coming to the seashore upon 
certain craggy rocks ; and we standing in our boats, I 
they let down with a rope what it pleased them to give 
us, crying continually that we should not approache to 
the land, demanding immediately the exchange, taking 
nothing but knives, fish-hookes, and tooles to cut 
withal ; neither did they make any account of our cour- 
tesie." 
Appear- Think how strange it would be, if we were to sail 

the coast along the Atlantic coast, and not meet so much as a 



THE SUCCESSORS OF COLUMBUS. 45 

fishing-vessel ! It would be strange never to see a in those 
lighthouse, a buoy, or a wharf ; and to enter New York ^^^ ^ *^^' 
harbor, and see only a few wooded hills and uninhabited 
islands, but no sign of human life, except, perhaps, a 
half-naked Indian standing on the shore. Yet this is 
what Verrazzano did. He carried home full accounts verraz- 
of what he saw. He thought that the savages were " like report.^ 
the people in the uttermost parts of China," and that 
" these new countries were not altogether destitute of 
the drugs and spicery, pearls and gold," for which every- 
body was so eager. King Francis I. was quite de- 
lighted. He said that he " did not think God had 
created those new countries for the Castilians alone : " 
but it is not certain whether he sent out a second expe- 
dition; or whether Verrazzano made any more voyages, 
or what became of him. 



T 



CHAPTER VIL 

HOW AMERICA WAS EXPLORED AND SETTLED. 

^HESE were some of the first voyages to America, 
made by Columbus, the Cabots, Ponce de Leon, 
and Verrazzano. But after the continent was fairly 
discovered, the next question was, Who should explore 
it, and claim it, and settle it ? 
First ex- It has alvvays seemed to me that the first explorers 

compa^re<? of North America were very much like a family of boys 
of bo*^T^^^^ who have discovered a large pond in the woods, some- 
where within reach of their dwelling-house. The boys 
wish to be always on the water, and are constantly ex- 
ploring. They have different objects : some go merely 
for the fun of it ; others to catch fish ; others, to look 
for blackbirds' nests among the reeds ; others, to find 
a shorter route to the village or to the schoolhouse. 
What wonderful stories they tell their little sisters about 
the things they have seen by the side of the lake ! By 
degrees they know the whole shore very well, and can 
find their way anywhere. Yet if they were to sit down 
at night to draw the outline of that shore from memory, 

— with all the ins and outs, all the bays and the islands, 

— no two would draw it alike ; and the different maps 
would look very strangely side by side. 

Now, this is precisely the way it was with those who 

46' 



HOW AMERICA WAS EXPLORED AND SETTLED. 



47 



first came to the shores of the North-American Con- 
tinent. Everybody wished to see the new country. Eagerness 
Everybody who came saw something wonderful ; and t^e^New 
each described even more wonders than he had seen, worid. 
The returning sailors told of giants and Amazons, of 
countries where the sands sparkled with gems, and 



("afkar 











^Vw3- 



>A-^u _j>, .^^^ 









b-1? 



li'tleiihili. 





Jrrsu//t (lilanli I a quo in i t'mifi^ Si\jjilf Ql'i /' • '■ " i' 



FROM MAP OF I54O. 

of rivers in which were found golden pebbles as 
large as hens' eggs. So there was immediately the 
greatest eagerness to undertake voyages to these new 
lands. Some large towns in Spain lost half their inhab- 
itants, so many people went on these expeditions. The 
Spaniards generally went for gold ; the Portuguese, for 
slaves ; and the French and English, for the sake of 
fishing. Many people still believed that this new Different 
country was India, of which they had known something this tim«. 
before. But the more learned people — the geographers, 



4-8 YOUNG folks' united states. 

and those who made the maps — now thought that these 
new lands were not a part of India, but were a series 
of islands, called " Cuba," " Florida," " America," and 
so on ; and they expected to find among these islands 
a passage that would lead to China and Japan. It may 
be seen by this map, made in 1532, thirty-eight years after 
the first voyage of Columbus, just how these wise men 
supposed these islands to lie ; and it will be seen that 
India and China (Cathay) and Japan (Cipango) are 
placed just behind them, as if easily to be reached. 
Maps of When there was so much curiosity about exploring 

the New World, we should suppose that they would 
have soon learned its outline thoroughly. But they 
were just like the boys by the lake. There was not a 
harbor along the Atlantic shore, from Labrador to 
Terra del Fuego, that had not been entered before this 
map was made. But no one captain had visited all 
the harbors. Nobody knew about the interior of the 
country, or its general form ; and so no two explorers 
agreed about the actual shape of the coast. When 
they came to draw its outline, we can see what work 
they made, if we look at this series of sketches, taken 
from old maps made between 1534 and 1560. The 
River St. Lawrence seemed to puzzle them particu- 
larly: sometimes they made it run south, and some- 
times east; and, as for Cape Cod, it appears in all 
manner of shapes. 

But even after Europeans had begun to understand 
how large the new region was, and after they had 
improved in map-drawing, there came the still more 
puzzling question, To whom was it all to belong ? 

Here, again, these great nations were very much like 




COAST OF NORTH AMERICA, FROM MAPS MADE BETWEEN 1 534 AND 1560. 



49 



50 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Claims of 
the differ- 
ent Na- 
tions. 



First 

permanent 

settlement, 



Different 
names of 
the Conti- 
nent. 



boys who have explored the shores of a lake, and who 
play at taking possession of its different islands and 
capes. Perhaps a boy has claimed a part of the shore 
for his own, and has given his name to it ; perhaps he has 
cut his name on a tree as a sign of ownership : but, as 
soon as he is gone, another boy may come and seize ity 
and give it another name. There is no way to keep ity 
except to stay and guard it ; and this is what few will 
take the trouble to do. Just so it was with these 
nations. The Spaniards wished to own all they had 
explored ; so did the French ; so did the English : 
but nobody liked very well to stay there and keep pos- 
session. Each claimed a certain portion by right of 
discovery : the trouble was to occupy what they claimed. 
But at last the Spaniards made some permanent set- 
tlements in Mexico, and one at St. Augustine, Fla. 
There is the quaint old town to this very day, with some 
of the fortifications they built. It was founded in 1565, 
and is the oldest town in the United States. Then 
the French settled Nova Scotia (in 1605) ; but it looked 
very much as if there w^ould never be any English set- 
tlements in North America. 

We must remember that in those days the name 
" North America " had been scarcely heard. As you will 
see on the map of the new discoveries, the name of 
" America " was given first to South America, w'hich 
Americus Vespucius had visited and described, and 
which was supposed to be an island. But North Amer- 
ica was usually called " Florida " by the Spaniards ; 
while the French called it " Francesca," or " Canada," 
or " New France." After a while, it came to be gener- 
ally understood between these two nations that, some- 



HOW AMERICA WAS EXPLORED AND SETTLED. 5 

how or other, they owned it all between them. In the 
National Library at Paris I saw an old French globe, 
made about three hundred years ago, and one of the 
largest globes ever made. On this globe the northern 
part of the Atlantic shore is called, in great capital 
letters, " Canada, or New France " (" La Nouvelle 
France ") ; and all the southern part is called " Florida." 
The name " North America " does not appear at all. 
The New York Historical Society owns a smaller globe, 
with much the same divisions : this was made in Spain, 
in 1542. That was the view the French and Spaniards 
took of the subject in those days. They did not dream 
that the time was coming when neither France nor Spain 
would own a foot of land in North America. 

But the English had never forgotten, all this time, English 
that John and Sebastian Cabot, with English ships, had found 
first reached the mainland of North America. So gij- ^0^°'='^®^- 
Walter Raleigh and other gallant men made several 
unsuccessful attempts to found colonies. They were 
determined to take possession of that great region 
between Canada and Florida ; and they named it " Vir- 
ginia," after their queen, Elizabeth, who liked to be 
called " the Virgin Queen." But it was very hard to 
make the colonists stay there in the wild forests and 
among the Indians ; and so colony after colony failed. 
One is said to have been attempted, for instance, on an 
island now called " Cuttyhunk," in Buzzard's Bay, Mass. 
The leader was Bartholomew Gosnold ; but he only Barthoio- 

1 r 1 ^ ' ' ^ t r 1 • - ^ me'W GrOS« 

Stayed a few months, and it is doubtful it he ever meant noid. 
to stay longer. Another famous colony was very unfor- 
tunate, — that on Roanoke Island in Virginia (now North 
Carolina). The first child of English parents on Amer- 



52 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

ican soil was born there, and was named " Virginia 
Dare." She was grandchild ' of the governor of the 
settlement. He went to England without his family, 
and was gone several years ; and, when he came back, 
the whole colony had disappeared ; and no one has 
ever discovered what became of little Virginia and her 
companions. 
Potatoes Thus colony after colony proved unsuccessful ; and 

and tobac- ^^^ ^ loug time the most important results of the new 
discoveries, so far as England was concerned, appeared 
to be the introduction of potatoes and tobacco. They 
are both said to have been made known through Sir 
Walter Raleigh ; and it is said that when, after one of 
his voyages, he sat smoking in his room in England, 
some one threw a pail of water over him, supposing 
him to be on fire. 
Charter Finally, in April, 1606, King James I. granted a 

James I. charter to two companies formed in England. This 
charter gave them the whole continent of North Amer- 
ica, from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fifth parallel of 
latitude. That left the French undisturbed at the north, 
and the Spaniards at the south ; and yet it included all 
the present States along the Atlantic, north of South 
Carolina, except a part of Maine. As was said before, 
all this territory was called " Virginia " by the English. 
The books of that day said, " Virginia is that country 
of the earth which the ancients called Morosa, between 
Florida and New France." 
Division of Moreover, the king decided that this territory should 
toryr^ ' be further divided into two parts. The London Com- 
pany must take the southern half, and the Plymouth 
Company the northern half ; and their nearest settle- 



HOW AMERICA WAS EXPLORED AND SETTLED. 53 

nients must be a hundred miles apart, so that there 
should be no quarrelling. 

Then the two companies sent out their colonies about The two 
the same time. The southern colony reached James- 
town, Va., in April, 1607 ; and the northern colony ar- 
rived at the mouth of the Kennebec River in August 
of the same year. The southern colonists remained, 
and founded what is now the State of Virginia ; but 




ENGLISH SHIP OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY. 



the Maine colonists gave up their enterprise very soon. 
Most of them went back to England in the autumn; Maine coio 
but a portion stayed till spring, building a storehouse, turn^to^ 
with a fort, which was called " Fort St. George." But England, 
they suffered great hardships ; and in the spring their 
leader, George Popham, died, and all the survivors 
returned home. If they had remained, Maine would 
have been permanently settled almost as early as Vir- 
ginia. The colonists under Popham did some good by 



54 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Virginia 
the oldest 
of the 
English 
colonies. 



helping to establish the English title to the country ; 
but they did harm by telling everybody, after their 
return, that New England was too cold to be inhabited, 
This so discouraged the people who had thought of 
emigrating, that it was more than twelve years before 
another colony came to New England. Thus Virginia 
was the oldest of the English colonies ; but I shall tell 
their story in geographical order, beginning with the 
New-England States, because this arrangement will be 
easier to remember, and less confusing, than to regard 
only the order of time. 



M 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONIES. 
THE PLYMOUTH COLONY. 

ORE than two centuries and a half ago, there Religious 

, • r . 1 • • • • Intolerancd 

was a time of great rehgious persecution in in England. 
England. People had not then learned to leave each 
other free to worship, or to abstain from worship, in 
their own way. If a man did not attend the services 
of the Established Church of England, he was liable to 
be severely punished ; and, if he attended any other 
religious service, it might lead to exile or death. So The pii- 
a great many of the persecuted people went to live Houand. 
in Holland, where there was more religious freedom. 
There they dwelt in peace, and won the respect of all. 
The Dutch magistrates said, " These English have 
lived among us now these twelve years, and yet we 
never had any suit or accusation against any of them." 

But when children began to grow up around them. Their rea. 
these exiles thought that they would rather teach their f°^ving'^ 
boys and girls the English language and give them an Holland. 
English education. Besides, war between the Dutch 
and Spaniards was just beginning again, after ten 
years of peace ; and this caused the English emigrants 
much anxiety. They had to work very hard, too, and 

55 



56 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

began to wish that they could be laboring to found a 
settlement of their own, where they could feel at home. 
Above all, they wished to do something, as they said, 
" for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the 
kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the w^orld." 
So they decided to leave Holland for the unexplored 
continent of America, where there was as yet no 
English settlement but in Virginia. Even before they 
had resolved on this, they had been called familiarly 
by the name of " Pilgrims ; " because they were wander- 
ing from place to place on the way "to heaven, their 
dearest country," as they said. 
prepara So, out of Several hundred English Pilgrims in Holland, 

leaving. about a hundred were selected to go to America, — 
" such of the youngest and strongest as freely offered 
themselves." They procured two small vessels, the 
" Speedwell," of sixty tons, and the " Mayflower," of 
one hundred and eighty tons ; this last being intended 
to sail from Southampton, England. In July, 1620, the 
" Speedwell " sailed from Delft-Haven. The Pilgrims 
had religious services before sailing ; and their old 
minister, John Robinson, said in his address to them, 
" I charge you, before God and his blessed angels, that 
you follow me no further than you have seen me follow 
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet 
to break out of his holy word." Then they were feasted 
at the pastor's house ; and one of them wrote, " We 
refreshed ourselves, after tears, with singing of psalms, 
making joyful melody in our hearts, as well as with the 
voice ; there being many of the congregation very ex- 
pert in music ; and indeed it was the sweetest melody 
that mine ears ever heard." 



THE PLYMOUTH COLONY. 



57 



" After this," he adds, " they accompanied us to Delft- Thepn- 
Haven, to the ship, but were not able to speak, one to InSand^^* 
another, for the abundance of sorrow to part. But we 
only, going aboard, gave them a volley of small-shot, 
and three pieces of ordnance ; and so, lifting up our 
hands to each other, and our hearts for each other and 
the Lord our God, we departed." 




THE "MAYFLOWER 



Thus the Pilgrims set sail without aid from govern- The voyage 
ment, and without any royal charter, for the New 
World. After touching at three English ports, they still 
had a long passage of sixty-three days. The " Speed- 
well " proved unseaworthy, and put back ; while the 
"Mayflower" went on alone. Instead of reaching the 
Hudson River, where they had meant to go, they were 
driven by storms to the Massachusetts shore. For a 



58 YOUNG folks' united states. 

The search month they sailed up and down, looking for a favorable 
h°aVDo?.°°^ harbor along the coast. It was a barren region ; but it 
seemed pleasant to them after the sea. They saw pines, 
junipers, sassafras, " and other sweet woods," growing 
on the shore. They found, their narrative says, " the 
greatest store of fowl that ever we saw." They saw 
whales ; and, when they fired at one, the gun exploded, 
when " the whale gave a snuff, and away." When 
they first went ashore, sixteen men landed, "with 
every man his musket, sword, and corselet," headed 
by Capt. Miles Standish. They saw " five or six peo- 
ple, with a dogge, who were savages." These all ran 
away, and " whistled the dogge after them." At last, 
in a valley, the Pilgrims saw a deer, and found springs 
of fresh water ; " of which we were heartily glad," the 
narrative says, " and set us downe, and drunke our 
first New England water with as much delight as ever 
we drunke drink in all our lives." Then they found 
a grave, with mats and bowls, and the skeleton of a 
man and that of a little child buried together. Per- 
haps it was pleasant to them to see that parents and 
children loved each other, even among wild Indians. 
Then they found a great basket of Indian corn, buried 
in the ground. This they took, and afterwards, find- 
ing the owners, paid for it. They killed three fat geese 
and six ducks, which they ate "with soldier stomachs," 
their story says. 
The land- At last thcv camc into a harbor to which an earlier 

ing at 

Plymouth, cxplorcr, Capt. John Smith, had given the name of 
" Plymouth." They fixed on this as a good place for 
their settlement; and on the 21st of December, 1620, 
they landed. A young girl named Mary Chilton is said 



THE PLYMOUTH COLONY. 



59 



to have been the very first to step on Plymouth Rock. Plymouth 
But, before landing, they had held a meeting in the 
cabin of the " Mayflower," and agreed that every man 
in the colony should have an equal share in the govern- 
ment. They chose John Carver for their first governor; 
and they also formed a military company, with Capt. 
Mi|es Standish to command it. The soldiers had 
each a coat of mail, and a sword, and a match-lock mus- 
ket ; and we shall see hereafter how well they defended 
the colony. 

Then they brought on shore all their possessions, such 
as we may see at this day preserved as relics in Pil- 
grim Hall, at Plymouth, — arm-chairs and spinning- 
wheels, and Miles Stand- 
ish's great iron dinner- 
kettle, and little Lora 
Standish's sampler, and the 
cradle of Peregrine White, 
the little boy born on 
board the "Ma3'flower," 
and who was named " Pere- peregrine white's cradle. 
grine " from the peregrinations of the Pilgrims. 

Landing in early winter on that cold, bleak shore, HardsMps 
they began at once to build houses. There were one ^nter. 
hundred and two persons to be provided with shelter. 
First they built a common house as a temporary abode 
for all ; then they divided themselves into nineteen 
families ; and by degrees a house was built for each. 
These houses were of logs and mortar, with thatched 
roofs, and with windows of oiled paper. The rooms 
were so crowded that they were " as full of beds as 
they could he, one by another." Then they built a 




lived. 



60 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

great shed for the public goods, and a small hospital 
for the sick, and a church, which had four cannon 
planted on the top for defence. Here they could have 
their religious services in safety, with good Elder 
How they Brcwstcr for their minister. As for food, they lived by 
hunting and fishing till they could raise corn. Some- 
times they killed deer and wild turkeys. They caught 
shad and cod ; took lobsters and shell-fish. The Indi- 
ans taught them to shoot fish with arrows, and to tread 
eels out of the mud with their feet. Once they tried to 
eat an eagle, and thought it tasted " very much like a 
sheep." For several years they had no cattle, and 
could scarcely have kept any, because of the lions, as 
they called the wolves, which came close to the town. 
Often they suffered for want of food ; often " they 
knew not at night where to have a bit in the morning." 
" I have seen men," says one of their number, " stagger 
by reason of faintness for want of food." What with 
hardship and exposure, just one-half of their number 
died during the first winter, including their first govern- 
or ; and they planted corn-fields to conceal the graves, 
so that the Indians might not know how w^eak they were 
growing. Yet in the spring, when the " Mayflower " 
returned to England, not one of these brave colonists 
went back. Women with sick children preferred to 
stay in this comfortless country rather than live in 
comfort at home. 



THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY. 

The voy. While the Pilgrims were thus establishing themselves 
Salem. at Plymouth, there were some temporary English settle- 



THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY. 6l 

ments made at other places along the coast. But the 
principal colony was yet to be founded. On the 29th Arrival at 
of June, 1629, there came sailing into what is now ^^^' 
Salem harbor five vessels, one of these being the self- 
same " Mayflower '' that had first brought the Pilgrims. 
They had been six weeks and three days at sea ; and 
the passengers called the voyage " short and speedy." 
It had been a prosperous voyage ; and the only person 
who described it says, " Our passage was both pleas- 
urable and profitable ; for we received instruction and 
delight in beholding the wonders of the Lord in the 
deep waters, and sometimes seeing the sea round us 
appearing with a terrible countenance, and, as it were, 
full of high hills and deep valleys ; and sometimes it 
appeared as a most plain and even meadow." Then, 
when they came along the coast, the same writer says, 
" By noon we were within three leagues of Cape Ann ; 
and, as we sailed along the coast, we saw every hill 
and dale, and every island, full of gay woods and high 
trees. The nearer we came to the shore, the more 
flowers in abundance ; sometimes scattered abroad, 
sometimes joined in sheets nine or ten yards long, 
which we supposed to be brought from the low mead- 
ows by the tide. Now, what with pine-woods and green 
trees by land, and these yellow flowers painting the sea, 
made us all desirous to see our new paradise of New 
England, whence we saw such forerunning signals of 
fertility afar off." How unlike the first approach of the 
Pilgrims to Cape Cod in the frosty autumn weather ! 

This new colony was called the Massachusetts Bay The lead- 
Colony. John Endicott had preceded it, with a few 
men, the year before, and had been appointed governor 



62 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Compari- 
son of the 
two col- 
onies. 



of the colony. He left no account of his voyage. 
Those who came in the five ships whose arrival I have 
just described were Rev. Francis Higginson and two 
hundred more. They came in 1629. Then, the next 
year, Gov. John Winthrop came with eight hundred. 
The Massachusetts Bay Colony was large, strong, and 
rich, compared with that at Plymouth. It included 
many highly-educated men and some rich men. They 
had powerful friends in England ; and they had a char- 
ter from the king, securing to them the right to govern 
themselves, so long as they did nothing contrary to the 
laws of England. They founded the town of Salem, 
which they called by that name, because in Hebrew it 
signified " Peace." Afterwards they settled Boston, — 




TRIMOUNTAIN. 



Difference 
between 
Pilgrims 
and Puri- 



at first called Trimountain, from its three hills, — ana 
also Roxbury, Dorchester, Charlestown, Watertown, and 
other places. 

These colonists w^ere not "Pilgrims" from Holland, 
or " Separatists," as the Plymouth colonists were some- 
times called; but they were "Puritans," or religious 
reformers, v.'ho came from England, hoping to find 
more freedom for themselves in America. They had 
been persecuted for their opinions at home, though not 
so severely as the Pilgrims ; and the Puritans at first 



THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONY. 63 

thought that the Pilgrims did not feel kindly enough 
toward the mother-country. It is reported that Francis 
Higginson said, as his ship sailed away from the Eng- 
lish shores, "We will not say, as the Separatists were 
wont to say at their leaving of England, 'Farewell, 
Babylon! Farewell, Rome!' But we will say, 'Fare- 
well, dear England ! Farewell, the Church of God in 
England, and all the Christian friends there ! ' " How- 
ever, when they got to America, there was not much 
difference between the Pilgrims at Plymouth and the 
Puritans at Salem. At least, both colonies soon grew 
quite independent of the ways and authority of the 
Church of England." 

But, for all their larger numbers and greater wealth, 
the Massachusetts colonists suffered almost as much 
hardship as the Plymouth settlers had undergone. They 
had, to be sure, from the beginning, horses and cattle 
and tools. But one of the early colonists wrote, " Bread ^^® °^**" 
was so very scarce, that sometimes I thought the very food, 
crumbs of my father's table would be sweet unto me. 
And, when I could have meal and water and salt boiled 
together, it was so good, who could wish better? . . . 
The Indians did sometimes bring corn, and truck with 
us for clothing and knives ; and once I had a peck of 
corn, or thereabouts, for a little puppy-dog. Frost-fish, 
mussels, and clams were a relief unto many." Another 
writer describes how the women in the seaside settle- 
ments used to go down to the beach every day, at low 
tide, and dig for shell-fish. "It would have been a 
strange thing," says another, " to see a piece of roast 
beef or mutton or veal." One day, just as Governor 
Winthrop was giving away the last handful of meal he 



64 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



hardships. 



possessed to a poor man, they saw a ship from Eng- 
land, with provisions, just entering the harbor. 
Content- A good many died of hardship and fatigue during 

mrdst'of ^ the first year or two ; but, after that, they grew quite 
healthy. They found the climate bracing; and one 
said, that " a sup of New England's air was better than 
a whole draught of Old England's ale." Even in their 
worst times, very few went back to England ; and, not- 
withstanding their poverty, there was not an instance 
of theft among them for four years. Governor Win- 
throp wrote to his wife, " We here enjoy God and Jesus 
Christ ; and is not that enough ? I thank God I like so 
well to be here as [that] I do not repent my coming. 
I would not have altered my course, though I had fore- 
seen all these afflictions. I had never more content of 
mind." 

These two colonies, Plymouth and Massachusettr 
Bay, were for many years independent of one another, 
but the Plymouth Colony, though the older of the two, 
grew far more slowly than the other, and was at last 
united with it in 1692, under the name of Massachu- 
setts ; the name being taken from one of the tribes of 
Indians inhabiting the soil. The meaning of the word 
is said to be " Blue Hills." 



Union of 
the two 
colonies. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE OTHER NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 

THE two colonies afterwards united under the 
name of Massachusetts have been described 
before the other New England colonies. This is be- 
cause Massachusetts, being first settled, was in a man- 
ner the parent of these later colonies. Let us take up 
the rest in the ordinary geographical order. 

Maine was not for many years considered as a sepa- Eariy ue 
rate colony ; and yet it was one of the first parts of Mifne. 
the country to be visited and explored by Europeans. 
It was visited by the navigator Gosnold in 1602 ; and 
an English colony tried to establish itself there in 1607, 
as has already been told ; and a French colony came 
soon after. But the English settlers went home ; and 
the Frenchmen were driven away by the Virginia set- 
tlers, who did not wish to have them so near, and sent 
an expedition against them. Capt. John Smith ex- capt. 
plored the coast of Maine, and wrote a description of pSiations. 
it ; and an Englishman, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, had a 
patent from the king, Charles I., for a part of it ; and it 
was named Maine by him, probably in honor of Queen 
Henrietta Maria, who is said to have owned a French 
province of that name ; though this is doubtful. Then 
the Massachusetts Colony claimed the whole ; and so 

6s 



66 YOUNG folks' united states. 

there was a good deal of confusion about the owner* 
ship of that region. But Maine was, after all, reck- 
oned a part of Massachusetts during almost all the 
colonial period, and for many years after. 
Origin and The first Settlements grew gradually out of fishing- 
Jrowth of stations ; and it is hard to say when the earliest perma- 
settie- j^gj^^ town settlements were founded: before 16^0, at 
any rate. People sought Maine for hunting and fish- 
ing, rather than for farming : so the villages grew 
slowly, and they suffered greatly in the Indian wars. 
The laws were milder in that part of New England 
than in Massachusetts and Connecticut. There was 
much religious freedom, and no persecution for opinion^s 
sake ; so that persecuted people often took refuge in 
Maine. But, on the other hand, the nearness to Cana- 
da was a disadvantage ; because the French and Indi- 
ans were for many years the great source of terror to 
the English colonists. So these setdements had much 
to keep them back ; and Maine was not counted as a 
separate colony among those that finally combined to 
form the United States. 

Early his- Ncw Hampshire was also visited very early, in 
HampsSr 1603, by an explorer named Martin Pring; and Ports- 
mouth and Dover were settled in 1623. Portsmouth 
was first called Strawberry Bank. The settlements 
made there were chiefly for fishing ; and it is said that 
when a travelling preacher went among the people, ten 
years later, and told them that they must be religious, 
for that was their main end in coming thither, they 
replied, " Sir, you are mistaken. You think you are 
speaking to the people of Massachusetts Bay. Our 



THE OTHER NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 6^ 

main end was to catch fish." The colony grew very 
slowly ; and, thirty years after the settlement of Ports- 
mouth that town contained only fifty or sixty fami- ♦ 
lies. New Hampshire was several times connected The gov. 

• 1 T. «- 1 • 1 • eminent. 

With Massachusetts in government, and at one time 
with New York ; but, after 1741, it was a separate prov- 
ince, under a royal governor, who lived in much style 
and elegance at Portsmouth. There are still to be 
seen in that part of the State the fine dwellings of 
colonial days. 

Gov. Penning Wentworth of New Hampshire New 
claimed that the lands of that colony extended through grants. 
what is now Vermont ; and as his Excellency asserted 
the right to give away townships west of the Connec- 
ticut River, and to reserve for himself five hundred 
acres in every township, it is plain that it was a profita- 
ble thing to be a colonial governor in New Hampshire. 
Then the more northern townships were gradually filled 
up by immigrants from Scotland and Ireland ; and, by 
the time of the American Revolution, New Hampshire 
was a strong and independent colony. It took its name 
from the English county of Hampshire, whence some of 
the early settlers came. 

Vermont was first explored in 1609, by Cham plain, a Vermont 
French officer, after whom Lake Champlain was named. 
It had, however, no European settlers for more than a 
century after that ; and, down to the time of the Amer- 
ican Revolution, it was not recognized as a separate 
colony, but was known as the " New Hampshire 
Grants," on account of the townships that Governor 
Wentworth had granted. But the governor of New 



68 



YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 



York also claimed to control these same " grants ; " 
and Ethan Allen and the other " Green Mountain 
Boys," as they were called, refused to submit to New 
York, and wished to be independent of the other colo- 
nies. It was, however, long before they succeeded in 
this ; and the history of their efforts must therefore be 
postponed for a good many pages. The name " Ver- 
mont " means simply " Green Mountain." 



Settlement 
of Rhode 
Island. 



Roger 
Williams. 



Rhode Island was founded quite differently from 
any of the other New England settlements; for it was 
established mainly by those who had fled from reli- 
gious persecution in another colony. The founders of 
Massachusetts came to America to secure freedom for 
the exercise of their own religious opinions ; but they 
did this because they thought those opinions were 
right, not because they believed in the general princi- 
ple of toleration. The idea of liberty in matters of 
religion was not very common in those days ; and the 
very men who were most conscientious in maintaining 
their own views of things were often the most zealous 
in putting down all those who differed from them. 
But one young minister came out to America who be- 
lieved in religious freedom, not only for his own opin- 
ions, but for those of all others. His name was Roger 
Williams. He said that the magistrates of a country 
should behave like the captain of a ship, who lets his 
passengers have any kind of religious meeting they 
please on board, so long as they keep the peace, and 
do not quarrel. He thought that the law ought to be 
used to keep people from crime, but that it had nothing 
to do with their religious belief. He did not approve 



THE OTHER NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 6g 

of obliging people, to attend church, unless they wished 
to do it. He did not think it right to choose the 
magistrates from the church-members only, or to make 
people pay to support the church, unless they wished. 
He was not always moderate or judicious in his way of 
expressing these opinions : but most people would now 
admit that his views on toleration were right and wise. 
He, however, held also some peculiar opinions as to the 
authority of civil magistrates in any case; and those 
views gave to the Puritans some just ground of com- 
plaint. 

At last he talked so boldly against the established flight of 

1 1 i-A/r 1 . ,-1, Williams. 

laws that the Massachusetts magistrates decided to 
send him back to England. He heard of this intention, 
and fled, in mid-winter, from his home in Salem, and 
wandered in the wilderness for fourteen weeks, " sorely 
tost in a bitter season, not knowing what bread or bed 
did mean." This was in January, 1636. First he set- 
tled at Seekonk, within the Plymouth Colony ; but, being 
advised by Governor Winthrop to "steer his course" 
to the Narragansett Bay, he crossed, with five compan- 
ions, in an Indian canoe. The first place where he landed Providence 
he called " Providence ; " thus acknowledging his grati- 
tude to God. There were then no white settlers in that 
region ; and Canonicus, chief of the Narragansetts, 
gave Roger Williams a large tract of country. But he 
kept nothing for himself : *' he gave away his lands and 
other estate to them that he thought most in want, 
until he gave away all." " I desired it might be a 
shelter for persons distressed for conscience," he said. 
Many such persons came to him, and settled in differ- 
ent parts of the colony he founded. Among these 



70 



YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES, 



Noted per- 
sons who 
joined him. 



The charter 
and laws. 



TTnequalled 
civil and 
religious 
liberty. 



Khode 
Island and 
the rcEt 
of New 
England. 



were Anne Hutchinson, a famous woman-preacher of 
those days, whom the Massachusetts magistrates had 
exiled ; and Samuel Gorton, another independent re- 
ligious teacher. Another was William Coddington, who 
bought the island of Rhode Island, then called Aquid- 
neck, from the Indians. Indeed, so many people of 
various opinions went there, that it used to be said 
that any man who had lost his religion would be sure 
to find it again at some village in Rhode Island. 

The new colony finally obtained a charter under the 
name of " Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ; " 
the first part of the name being given from a sup- 
posed resemblance of that island to the Island of 
Rhodes. The laws of the colony were based on the 
plan of perfect religious toleration. Roger Williams 
maintained that " a permission of the most Paganish, 
Jewish, Turkish, or anti-Christian consciences," should 
be granted " to all men of all nations and countries," 
and that " Papists, Protestants, Jews, or Turks " should 
be protected in their worship ; and the General Assem- 
bly in 1647 passed a law to the same purpose. That 
was an amount of liberty not then equalled under any 
Christian government, not even in the Maryland colony, 
which was the most liberal in America. And, in 
general, the inhabitants of Rhode Island were so 
fearful of establishing any tyranny, that, when Roger 
Williams had refused the office of governor, the colony 
went on without one for forty years. After a time the 
character and habits of the people became more like 
those of the other New England colonies; but the 
others always felt some jealousy of Rhode Island, and 
it was not admitted into the alliances made by the 



THE OTHER NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. /I 

rest. Yet Rhode Island took an active part in the 
wars of the colonies against the French, and was 
ready to join with the others in raising troops when 
the time of the American Revolution came. 

The coast of Connecticut was first explored by one Adrian 
of the early Dutch navigators, Adrian Block, who was ^^°^^' 
the first European to sail through Hurlgate. This was 
in 1614; and the island called Block Island still bears 
the name of the bold sailor. Other Dutch navigators origin of 
afterwards went up the Connecticut River, and claimed and Eng- 
its banks, and the whole shore of Long Island Sound, ioconn^^ 
as far as Cape Cod. But the river was also claimed by *^°'^*- 
an English company ; and an exploring party from Ply- 
mouth chose a site for a trading-house on the bank, in 
answer to an invitation from an Indian chief named 
Seguin. Then the Dutch bought of another chief, Sas- 
sacus, the land where Hartford now stands, and built 
there a trading-house and fort, called the " House of 
Good Hope." They forbade any English from ascend- 
ing the river, and threatened to fire on the party from 
Plymouth when they came in sight ; but the Plymouth 
men sailed on up the stream, and built their trading- 
house at Windsor. This was in 1633 ; and for many years 
after there was a rivalry between the Dutch and the 
English in settling the Connecticut valley. The Dutch 
of New Amsterdam were nearer to the spot; but the 
English were more numerous and more enterprising; 
and they soon began to come by land as well as by water. Arrival of 
Some whole churches formed colonies, and came through f^ttiers. 
the unbroken forest to Hartford and Windsor and Weth- 
ersfield. It was an untried way for white men ; but the 



;2 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Constitu- 
tion and 
name. 



The Ne-w 

Haven 

Colony. 



End of the 
troubles 
■with the 
Dutch. 



Indians had told them of the beautiful river, and had 
said that its banks were more fertile than the rugged 
soil of the Massachusetts shore. The first party of set- 
tlers, in 1635, suffered greatly in their first winter; and 
some of them waded back through the snows before 
spring. But in the spring a much larger party went 
westward, under guidance of a celebrated minister, 
Thomas Hooker. They drove their cattle before them ; 
they had no guide but their compass ; they hardly trav- 
elled ten miles a day through the forests ; and Mrs. 
Hooker, who was an invalid, was borne on a litter : 
but they, too, reached the river at last. In 1639 the 
first constitution for the Connecticut Colony was made, 
permitting all men to vote who had taken the oath of 
allegiance to the commonwealth. The name of the 
colony was taken from that of the river ; and it is said 
to mean " Long River." While this colony was being 
established, another large party came from England, in 
1638, and founded a second settlement farther south, at 
what they called New Haven. This colony had for a 
long time no laws but the Bible, and allowed none but 
church-members to vote. In this respect it was like 
the Massachusetts Colony in early times ; but religious 
controversies were milder in the Connecticut settle- 
ments, and there was very little persecution for opin- 
ion's sake. 

The troubles with the Dutch of New Netherlands 
continued until 1664, when the whole province of New 
Netherlands itself passed into the hands of the Eng- 
lish, and its name was changed to New York. After 
that time, there was no more trouble from Dutch neigh- 
bors. The New Haven Colony was, during the next 



THE OTHER NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 73 

jrear, united with the Connecticut Colony ; and they union of 
both went on prospering, being only visited by such coionTe^ 
troubles as attacked all the New England colonies 
together. These troubles must be told in a separate 
chapter. We shall there see how the people of New 
England lived, down to the time of the American Rev- 
olution, which combined all the scattered colonies into 
one nation. 



CHAPTER X. 

COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND. 

Similarity '^ "^ j^ iiiust remember that although the New Eng- 



WJ 



England V V land coloiiies had jealousies and differences, 

tfo omes. ^^^ ^1^^^ were in many respects alike. They were com- 
posed almost wholly of Englishmen and Protestants; 
and most of their pioneers had come from motives of 
conscience, as well as for their worldly advantage. 
Their leaders were men of strict morality, and they 
aimed to have no others among them. In the very 
first year of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Governor 
Endicott broke up a settlement at " Merry Mount," 
composed of people who led gayer and idler lives than 
he approved ; and this same John Endicott cut the 
red cross out of the English flag, because he thought it 
meant superstition. The other New England colonies 
were not so stern in their discipline as was Massachu- 
setts ; but the habits of that age would seem to us 
very peculiar, and they had their influence even in 
the more liberal colonies, such as Rhode Island. 
NewEng- If wc could Carry ourselves back to those days, and 

land village , ,. 

on Sunday wcrc to approach a New England village about nine 

morning. o'clock ou Sunday morning, we should hear some one 

beating a drum, or sounding a horn, or blowing a 

conch-shell, or possibly ringing a bell, to call people 

74 



COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND. 



75 



to worship. As we came nearer still, we should see 
a flag waving from a little log-built church, or "meet- 
ing-house." Entering the village, we should observe a 
strong fence of stakes around this meeting-house, and 
a sentinel in armor standing near it ; and we should see 
some of the men, as they went in, leaving their muskets 
under hib care. We should, perhaps, find a cannon or 
two planted near the meeting-house ; and we should 
also notice some strange 
wooden frames not far 
off, these being the stocks 
and the pillory, put there 
to punish offenders. 
Looking at this church 
itself, we should see that 
it had very few glass win- 
dows, and that these had 
very small and thick 
panes, diamond-shaped, 
and set in leaden frames. 
We should observe that 
the other windows had _ 

oiled paper instead of ^^"^vu,, 

glass ; and we should see ^^^^^ ^^^ England church. 
between the windows the heads of wolves that had been 
killed and displayed there during the past year. 

If we were to look inside the little church, we should church 

services 

not find families sitting together, as now ; but they 
would be distributed according to age, or sex, or rank. 
In those days the old men sat together in one place in 
church, the young men in another, the young women in 
another. The boys all sat on the pulpit-stairs and gal- 




76 YOUNG folks' united states. 

lery-stairs, guarded by constables. Each of these con- 
stables had a wand, with a hare's foot on one end, and 
a hare's tail on the other. These were to keep people 
awake. If any woman went to sleep, the constable 
touched her on the forehead with the hare's tail ; but, 
if a small boy nodded, he was rapped with the other 
end, not quite so gently. No doubt the wand was often 
used ; for the services were sometimes three or four 
hours long, the sexton turning the hour-glass before 
the minister at the end of every hour. The only 
music consisted of singing by the congregation, from, 
a metrical version of the Psalms, called " The Bay 
Psalm Book." The whole number of tunes known to 
the people did not exceed ten ; and few congregations 
could go beyond five. This was the Puritan form of 
religious service. And people were not allowed to 
stay at home from it ; for men called tithing-men were 
sent about the town to look for those who were absent. 
Men were fined for every unnecessary absence ; and, if 
they stayed aw^ay a month together, they might be put in 
the stocks, or into a wooden cage. 
Puritan Looking round at the houses of the Puritan villasre, 

dwellings i , T n ^ 

we should see that the older ones were made of earth 
or logs, one story high, with very steep roofs, covered 
with thatch. Entering any of these, we should find 
the fireplaces made of rough stones, and the chimneys 
either of boards, or of short sticks crossing each other, 
and smeared with clay. Here and there we should see 
newer and better houses, made of wood and brick, two 
stories high in front, and one story behind ; or houses 
of stone, like this of which a picture is given, and 
which represents the house of Rev. Mr. Whitfield at 



COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND. 



17 




MR. Whitfield's house. 



Guilford, Conn., built in 1639, ^"^ still standing, proba- 
bly the oldest house 
in the United States 
north of Florida. 
We should observe 
that the windows 
were very small, and 
opened on hinges ; 
and we should find 
the fireplaces of these 
houses large enough for burning logs four feet long, 
and for the children to sit in the corners to look up at 
the sky. We should find the houses facing exactly 
south, so that the sun at noon might " shine square " 

into them, and the family 
might know when to have 
dinner. 

If we could see the people Puritan 
occupying these houses, we 
should find the men wearing 
jerkins, small-clothes, ruffs 
around their necks, and, 
when in the open air, short 
cloaks and steeple-crowned 
hats, under which the elders 
wore velvet caps. We should 
find the young men, on pub- 
lic occasions, wearing showy 
belts, gold and silver but- 
tons, and great boots rolled 
over at the top. We should 
find the young women wearing plain and homespun 




K PURITAN. 



^8 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

clothing when about their work, but appearing on Sun- 
days in silk hoods, lace neckerchiefs, slashed sleeves 
and embroidered caps. But the law required that tliey 
should dress according to their means ; and, if they wore 
such things, they must prove that they were rich enough 
to afford it. This was the practice in England in those 
days, and the Puritans brought such laws with them. 
Thus it appears in the records, that one Alice Flynt 
was accused of wearing a silk hood ; but when she 
proved before court that she was worth two hundred 
pounds in money the complaint was dropped. Jonas 
Fairbanks, about the same time, was prosecuted for 
wearing "great boots ; " but the evidence was not suffi- 
cient to convict him, and he was happily acquitted. 
The If we were to remain in this Puritan village during 

the week, we might see, perhaps, a monthly muster of 
the soldiers ; that is, of all men over the age of six- 
teen. We should perhaps see the officers with swords 
like that sword of Capt. Miles Standish, which is still 
preserved, bearing an unknown Oriental inscription, 
in the Antiquarian Hall at Plymouth. We should see 
some of the soldiers armed with pikes ten feet long, 
and others carrying muskets called " matchlocks," from 
being fired by a slow-match instead of a percussion- 
cap, as now. We should observe that each soldier had 
also a '• rest," or iron fork, to be stuck in the ground 
for the support of his heavy weapon ; and we should 
notice that he had girt round him a belt, or "bando- 
lier," holding a sword and a dozen tin cartridge-boxes. 
He would probably wear, also, a steel helmet and an 
iron breastplate ; so that he would need to be a strong 
man to make a long march thus laden. Or perhaps he 



muster. 



COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND, 79 

would wear merely a coat thickly quilted with cotton- 
wool, which would turn the Indian arrows, and would 
be much lighter in weight. Such would be the soldiers. 
Or, if a town-meeting were being held, we shonld find The towr 
those same men, dressed in civil costume, gravely and "^®^*^^s:. 
patiently discussing the affairs of the towu, or the 
interests of the church ; most of the voters everywhere 
being church-members also. Or, if a vote were to be 
taken, we should see them doing it by putting in corn 
or beans ; each kernel of corn counting in the affirma- 
tive, and every bean in the negative. 

The laws of the Puritans were, in many ways, more The laws, 
severe than was wise, as we should now think. Those 
who had done wrong were often publicly whipped, or 
placed in stocks or the pillory ; these being wooden' 
frames that held people by the feet or neck, so that 
they could not get away. Or sometimes an offender 
had to stand on a stool in the church, during public 
worship, bearing the name of his crime embroidered 
on his clothes, or written on a paper pinned to his 
breast. A woman who scolded her family might be 
silenced by a cleft stick applied to her tongue, or by 
being ducked in running water. Such punishments 
are not now applied in civilized communities ; but we 
must remember that they were common in that age, and 
that the aim of such laws was to produce a sober and 
virtuous people, fearing, above all things, to do wrong. 

"Let it never be forgotten," said one of the early The remark 
Puritan preachers, " that our New England was origi- preacher, 
nally a plantation of religion, and not a plantation of 
trade. And if there be a man among you who counts 
religion as twelve, and the world as thirteen, let such a 



80 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

one remember that he hath neither the spirit of a true 

New England man, nor yet of a sincere Christian." 

Their de- Unhappily, the people honestly believed at that time 

troithe^""^' that it was their duty to control the religious opinions 

religious Qf those about them, as well as their moral conduct : 

opinions of ' ' 

others. and those who differed from the majority in their opin- 
ions often suffered very much. One reason was, that 
the English Government always complained that the 
Puritans were a fanatical and unreasonable kind of 
people, and so the Puritans naturally did not wish to 
be confounded with anybody still more fanatical, or 
to account for any strange actions but their own. 
Unfortunately, the way they took to remedy the evil 
was much worse than the evil itself. 

Persecu- Now the Quakcrs, or Society of Friends, in those 

tions of the i , , , . . , , 

Quakers, oays, though thcy were m some respects wiser and bet- 
ter than those who persecuted them, were yet in some 
ways quite troublesome. The Quakers were honestly 
opposed to many things that the Puritans thought 
necessary to good government. They would not pay 
taxes, or acknowledge the government, or fight in 
war : therefore the Puritans wished them to go away, 
and to found a settlement for themselves in the wil- 
derness, leaving the Puritan settlements in peace. But 
this the Quakers did not choose to do. They thought 
they had as much right in New England as anybody 
else ; and they, moreover, had among them some foolish 
persons, who did very mistaken things, not at all ap- 
proved by the main body of the Society of Friends. 
Some of these excited people would run naked through 
the streets, meaning this as a protest against the vani- 
ties of dress ; sometimes they would come into the 



COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND. 8 1 

Sunday meetings, dressed in sackcloth, and with ashes 
on their heads. But besides these half-crazy persons, 
the Puritans persecuted even the good and sober 
among the Quakers. These poor people were some- 
times branded with hot irons (H. for "heretic," and 
R. for " rogue " ) : they were whipped publicly through 
the streets, and four of them were hanged on Boston 
Common. All this was very wrong and cruel ; but we 
must remember that such severity was the practice of 
those days in most countries ; and that men had not 
then learned to tolerate freedom of opinion in one 
another. Indeed, they have not entirely learned it 
even now. 

Then another great source of anxiety among the witchcraft 
Puritans was what was called the witchcraft excitement. 
All over Europe, two centuries ago, it was firmly 
believed that certain persons were witches, and had 
power to bewitch and injure other people by magic 
arts. Perhaps some old woman, living by herself, 
would be accused of exerting this magic power on men 
or animals, and of causing disease or death. Then 
the poor woman would be accused before a magistrate, 
and would be examined, and perhaps tortured to 
make her confess; then she would become so fright- 
ened, or excited, as to say that she was really a witch, 
and perhaps accuse others: and so the delusion spread 
from one to another. In Scotland, about that time, "Witchcraft 
four thousand persons suffered death on charge of *^®^°"*"** 
witchcraft in ten years' time, and it is not strange 
that twenty were executed in America. Sometimes 
the very persons who were accused would do and say 
such strange things, that it was hard to know what 



82 YOUNG FOLKS^ UNITED STATES. 

course to take with them. A young girl, for instance, 
would jump up in church, and shout out, " Parson, your 
text is too long ! " or, " There 's a great yellow bird 
sitting on the parson's hat in the pulpit ; " and, when 
people did such strange things, the magistrates them- 
selves became excited. But, the more severely such 
persons were treated, the more their number increased ; 
so that the persecution of witches made more witch- 
craft ; and some of the Puritans were afterwards very 
much ashamed of what they had done. One brave 
old judge, Samuel Sewall, confessed in his later years 
that he had done wrong in yielding to the public 
excitement about witches ; and he used to keep a 
solemn day of fasting and prayer, every year, to atone 
for the sin he had committed. 
The Then the Puritan colonies had a great deal of trouble 

about their charters. The charters were the parchments 
given by the British Government, securing to the colo- 
nists the right to make their own laws, and to appoint 
their own magistrates. The colonists knew that with- 
out these charters they would be liable to a great deal 
of injustice, and that governors and magistrates might 
at any time be sent out from England to govern them 
without their consent. These magistrates might de- 
prive them of their religious freedom and destroy their 
whole prosperity. Besides, it was a time of civil war in 
England, between Charles I. and the parliament ; and 
the colonists did not wish to have anything to do with 
the contest. If they sided with either party, the other 
party would be very likely to oppress them whenever it 
came into power : so they tried to keep out of that 
war altogether and to hold to their charters. Several 



COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND. 83 

times the English Government attempted to take away 
the charters; and at last, in 1686, Sir Edmund Andros 
was sent out for this very purpose, and was authorized 
to act as royal governor for all New England. He Arrival of 
came with great show and display, glittering in scarlet 
and lace; and Massachusetts and Rhode Island sub- 
mitted to his authority. Connecticut appeared to do 
the same ; but a brave man, William Wadsworth, took 
the charter and hid it in a hollow tree. Sir Edmund 
Andros was very angry, and took the book of records 
of the Connecticut Colony, and wrote under it " Finis," 
which means "the end." But in 1688 there was a rev- 
olution in England ; and the people of New England 
soon rebelled against the new governor. The men of 
Boston put Sir Edmund Andros in prison ; the charter 
of Connecticut was brought out from its hiding-place ; 
and the word "Finis" disappeared from the colonial 
records. 

There had been, ever since 1643, ^ league of part of union of 
the New England Colonies to aid each other against the 
Indians, and for other purposes. It included the two 
Massachusetts Colonies and the two Connecticut Colo- 
nies ; but they would not admit Rhode Island. Maine 
and New Hampshire were not yet independent colo- 
nies ; and Vermont was not settled at all. This league 
lasted more than forty years, though its importance was 
much diminished during the latter part of that time. 
But when Sir Edmund Andros came to Boston as royal End of the 
governor, the league was dissolved ; and even after the ^®^^'^®- 
people had rebelled, and had banished him, three years 
later, it was not restored. Massachusetts and New 
Hampshire were separated into distinct colonies, and 



84 YOUNG folks' united states. 

had royal governors from England, very much against 
their will ; while Connecticut had kept its charter 
through all changes, thanks to William Wadsworth and 
the oak-tree ; and Rhode Island began again to govern 
itself under its old charter, and was not molested. But 
all these contests about charters left a very sore feeling 
behind, and helped to prepare the way for that separa- 
tion from the mother-country which was destined to 
take place. 
Employ- But, while this great event was drawing near, the 

ments. 

people of the New England Colonies all thought them- 
selves true and loyal Englishmen ; and they grew in 
numbers and in strength. At first they were all farm- 
ers or hunters or fishermen ; but by degrees they intro- 
duced cotton and woollen manufactures, made glass 
and gunpowder, got lumber and tar from the woods, 
and exported fish cured with salt of their own making. 
The first vessel they built was called " The Blessing of 
the Bay ; " and after a while there were many such bless- 
Money. ings. Thcrc was very little coin among them to use for 
business purposes, because they had often to send it to 
England for buying supplies, and it did not return. 
So they had to trade by barter ; afterwards they used 
wampum for money, and beaver-sj^ins and Indian corn 
and bullets ; and finally, in 1652, the Massachusetts 
legislature set up a mint, and coined twelvepenny, six- 
penny, and threepenny pieces of silver. These bore on 
one side the inscription, " Massachusetts," always spelled 
"Masathusets," with a tree in the centre, and "N. E.," 
or " New England," with the date, on the other. These 
are commonly known as "pine-tree" shillings, six- 
pences, and threepences. 



COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND. 

While the colonists were poor, there was necessarily Food, 
much simplicity of living among them. People of all 
stations made their morning and evening meal of 
boiled corn-meal and milk, or of pork and beans, or 
pork and peas. Tea and coffee were not yet intro- 
duced ; but home-made beer and cider were largely 
employed. Bread was commonly made of " rye and 



8s 




EARLY NEW ENGLAND COINS. 

Indian," and seldom of flour. There were few amuse- Amuse- 
ments ; dancing and the theatre were prohibited ; musi- '"^''*^' 
cal instruments w ere rare ; and no one was allowed even 
to own a pack of cards or a pair of dice. In their desire 
to promote virtue, the Puritans, no doubt, were too 
austere in their way of living ; yet the standard of 
morality among them was certainly very high. 



86 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

Social life With this simplicity of living there was a great deal 
tioH.^ ^ ^ of equality in the early days. Only a few people oi 
the highest social position, such as the clergy and the 
magistrates, were called by the titles of Jfr. and Afrs. ; 
the common designation being Goodtnati and Goodwife. 
Yet there was much deference paid to people of higher 
education or authority, especially to the clergy. The 
standard of education was high in the early colonies; 
many of the very first emigrants being men educated 
at the English universities. They introduced schools 
without delay, and then colleges. Harvard College 




HARVARD COLLEGE IN 172O. 

is almost as old as the colonies themselves, having 
been founded in 1636 ; and Yale College followed it in 
1700. The first printing-press in the New England col- 
onies was established at Cambridge in 1639; ^"*^ ^^^ 
Tbe first first ncwspapcr in any of the colonies appeared in 1704, 

ne'wspaper. 

and was called " The Boston Newsletter." Booksellers 
prospered very early in Boston ; and many books were 
printed there, most of these being sermons or theologi- 
cal pamphlets. 

As wealth increased in New England, social distinc- 
tions became greater ; and the royal governors, espe- 
cially, brought with them much show and display. In 



>>ast JO 




COLONIAL DAYS IN NEW ENGLAND. 8/ 

Boston and Cambridge, in Portsmouth, N. H., and in 
;ome parts of Rhode Island, there grew up much ele- 
gance of living and magnificent hospitality; and there 
itill remain in these places old houses which show the 
;plendor that prevailed in colonial days. Slavery existed slavery, 
n all the early colonies, but in a very mild form ; slave- 
abor being rarely employed in the fields, but mainly 
n private houses. At its first introduction it had been 
;arnestly opposed ; and when, in 1646, a cargo of Afri- 
:ans came from the Guinea coast to Boston, the legis- 
ature ordered them to be sent back to their native 
;ountry, with a letter of indignation ; and they were so 
;crupulous as to send and bring back one who had been 
dready taken to Maine. In the Connecticut Colony, in 
[650, and in New Haven soon after, man-stealing was 
nade a capital offence. In Rhode Island, also, the first 
ict of the General Assembly in regard to slavery, in 
[652, ordered that no "blacke mankind or white" 
;hould be held in slavery for more than ten years, or 
ifter the age of twenty-four. But these scruples were 
gradually disregarded, and slavery was established. 
Vlany influential men still protested against it, espe- protests 
:ially Chief Justice Samuel Sewall, who published, in si^very- 
ryoG, a tract on the subject, called "The Selling of 
[oseph." An answer to this tract was soon published ; 
md Judge Sewall says in his letters that he met with 
'frowns and hard words" for it, but that he was sus- 
:ained by the influence of some of the leading clergy- 
nen, such as Rev. John Higginson of Salem. It was 
lot till after the Revolution, however, that slavery dis- 
ippeared from the New England Colonies. 



CHAPTER XI. 

OLD DUTCH TIMES IN NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY. 

Henry 'T'^HERE was oiice an English sailor, named Henry 
u son. j^ Hudson, who made some very daring voyages. 
The European nations were trying hard to discover a 
shorter passage to India, either by saihng to the north 
of Europe, or by finding some opening through the new 
continent of America. Henry Hudson had made two 
voyages for this purpose, in the employ of English 
companies. Twice he had sailed among the icebergs, 
and through the terrible cold, as far as Spitzbergen ; 
and twice he had turned back, because he could get no 
farther. But he was still as resolute and adventurous 
as ever, always ready for something new, — ready to 
brave the arctic cold or the tropic heat, if he could only 
find that passage to India which so many had sought 
in vain. At last, on the 4th of April, 1609, the Dutch 
Enterprise East India Company sent him out once more to make 
?5*^f discoveries. The Dutch at that time were the great 

Dutch peO' '-' 

pie- commercial nation of the world ; and Amsterdam was 

the centre of the commerce of Europe. There was not 
a forest of ship-timber in Holland ; but it owned more 
ships than all Europe beside. 

Discovery Hcnrv Hudsou's vessel was named the " Half- 

of the Hud- ^ i- j 

son River. Moon." Hc had a crew of twenty Englishmen and 
88 



OLD DUTCH TIMES IN NEW YORK. 89 

Dutchmen ; and his own son was among them. First 
he sailed north, as he had done before, trying to reach 
Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla ; but he found icebergs 
everywhere, and his men ahnost mutinied because of 
the cold. Then he resolved to sail farther westward. 
He passed near Greenland, then southward to New- 
foundland, then to Cape Cod, then as far south as Vir- 
ginia ; then he turned northward again, observing the 
shore more closely, and found himself at the mouth of 
what seemed to him a broad strait or river. On the 
3d of September, 1609, he anchored near what is now 
Sandy Hook. There the Indians came out to trade 
with him ; and after a few days he set sail again, fol- 
lowing the stream farther and farther, thinking that he 
had found the passage to India at last. 

It must have been an exciting thing to sail with saiimg up 

TT TT1 I 11- •> ,. t^® river. 

Henry Hudson up that noble river, wnere no white 
man had ever sailed before. He said in his narrative 
that the lands on both sides were " pleasant with grass 
and flowers and goodly trees." " It is as beautiful a 
land as one can tread upon," he declared, " and abounds 
in all kinds of excellent ship-timber." The Indians 
came out to meet him in canoes "made of single 
hollowed trees ; " but he would not let them come on 
board at first, because one of them had killed one of 
his sailors with an arrow. After a while the Dutch- 
men put more confidence in the Indians, and let them 
bring grapes and pumpkins and furs to the vessel. Trading 
These were paid for with beads, knives, and hatchets. J^^Lns! 
At last the Indians invited the brave sea-captain to visit 
them on shore, and made him very welcome ; and one 
of their chiefs " made an oration, and showed him all 



90 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Discovery 
of Hud- 
son's Bay. 



Dutch, 
legends. 



"New Neth- 
ti.'lands. 



the country round about." Henry Hudson sailed up 
as far as where the town of Hudson now stands ; and 
there, finding it too shallow for his vessel, sent a boat 
farther still, — as far as what is now Albany. Then he 
turned back, disappointed, and sailed out of the 
"great river," or " Groot Rivier" as he called it, and 
went back to Holland. 

He never saw that beautiful river again. The Dutch 
East India Company did not care to explore it, since 
it did not lead to India ; and Hudson, on his next voy- 
age, went to the northern seas, hoping to find the pas- 
sage to India that way. He entered the bay that now 
bears his name ; and there his men mutinied, tied him 
hand and foot, put him on boa.d a boat, with his son 
and a few companions, among the floating ice, and set 
him adrift. Nothing more was ever heard of him. 
But to this day some of the descendants of old Dutch 
families on the Hudson River tell legends of the dar- 
ing navigator who first explored it, and call him by the 
Dutch form of his name ; and, when the thunder rolls 
away over the Highlands, they say, " There are Hen- 
drick Hudson and his crew playing ninepins among 
the hills." 

In a few years trading-posts began to be established 
on the Hudson River. King James I. of England had 
lately chartered two companies (as has already been 
told) for the purpose of colonizing North America. 
One was to take the northern part of the Atlantic coast, 
and the other the southern half ; but he required that 
their nearest settlements should be a hundred miles 
apart, so that there should be no quarrelling between 
them. It did not occur to him, that, if he left this wide 



OLD DUTCH TIMES IN NEW YORK. 9I 

space open, some other nation might slip in between, 
and found colonies ; so that there might be quarrelUng 
after all. Yet this was just what happened. After 
Henry Hudson's discoveries, Holland laid claim to all 
the land along the "great river," and called the whole 
territory " New Netherlands." Then, the next year, New Am. 
there came a bold sailor, named Adrian Block, the first s^erdam. 
European who ever sailed through Hurlgate, as has been 
already described in a previous chapter. He loaded 
his ship, the " Tiger," with bear-skins at the mouth of 
the Hudson, and was just ready to sail when the ship 
caught fire, and he had to land on Manhattan Island, 
where New York City now stands. There his men 
spent the winter of 1614. They put up some log-huts, 
and a fort of logs ; and before spring they built a new 
vessel of sixteen tons, called the " Onrust," or " Un- 
rest," a very good name for the restless navigators of 
those days. This was the second vessel built on this con- 
tinent by Europeans. This settlement, which was 
called "New Amsterdam," was the foundation of what 
is now the great city of New York ; and, ten years after 
that, the whole of Manhattan Island was bought from 
the Indians for twenty-four pounds sterling. Staten staten 
Island received its name from Henry Hudson, in honor ^s^*"*^- 
of the Dutch government, "Staaten" being Dutch for 
" states." 

Settlers at first came slowly to New Amsterdam ; patroons. 
but the Dutch established several trading-posts, at dif- 
ferent points, where they might buy the skins of bea- 
vers, bears, and otters, which the Indians had trapped 
or shot. At first only poor immigrants came ; but, after 
a while, certain richer and more influential men were 



92 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

sent out, with special privileges, from the Dutch West 
India Company. Each of these had authority to found 
a colony of fifty persons, and to own a tract of land 
sixteen miles in length, bordering on any stream whose 
shores were not yet occupied, and running back as far 
as he pleased into the interior. He was required to pay 
the Indians for their land, and to establish his colony 
within four years. He could exercise authority on his 
own " manor," as it was called, without regard to the 
colonial government ; but he could not engage in the 
woollen or cotton manufacture, because that was a mo- 
nopoly of the Dutch West India Company. And this 
company also agreed to supply the manors with negro 
slaves, whom they imported from Guinea. These great 
proprietors were called " Patroons." 
Troubles of This was a very different system from the simple 
^th°th^£ way in which New England had been colonized, where 
neighbors, ^jj j^gj^ wcrc cqual bcforc the law, and each man had 
a voice in the government. The Dutch and English 
settlers did not agree very well, especially when both 
nations had begun to explore the Connecticut valley, 
and both wished to secure possession of it. The Eng- 
lishmen thought that the Dutchmen had no business 
on the continent at all, and that they certainly had no 
claim to the Connecticut valley. On the other hand, 
the Dutchmen said that they had ascended the Con- 
necticut River first, and that their eastern boundary 
was the cape now called Cape Cod. Then the English- 
men charged the Dutchmen with exciting the Indians 
against them ; and, on the other hand, the Dutchmen 
said that the English settlers were apt to get the better 
ot them in making bargains. So the colony of New 



OLD DUTCH TIMES IN NEW YORK. 93 

Netherlands got into more and more trouble with these 
active and sharp-witted neighbors ; and, besides that, 
the Indians were very troublesome ; and there was also 
a standing quarrel with the Swedish settlers in Dela- 
ware ; so that, on the whole, the Dutchmen had not so 
peaceful a fime as they might have desired. 

If we could have visited a Puritan village in Massa- New Am- 
chusetts during those early days, and then could have uniike'a 
sailed in a trading-vessel to New Amsterdam, we should Jl^^^^f' 
have found ourselves in quite a different community from ^^s®- 
that we had left behind. The very look of the houses 
and streets would have seemed strange. To be sure, 
the very first settlers in both colonies had to build their 
cabins somewhat alike, — with walls of earth or logs, 
and thatched roofs, and chimneys made of small sticks 
of wood set crosswise, and smeared with clay. But, 
when they began to build more permanent houses, the 
difference was very plain. The houses in New Am- Dutch 

•' ^ ^ dwellings. 

sterdam were of wood, with gable-ends built of small 
black and yellow bricks, brought over from Holland. 
Each house had many doors and windows; and the 
date when it was built was often marked in iron letters 
on the front. The roof usually bore a weathercock, 
and sometimes many. The houses were kept very 
clean inside and out, — as clean as they still are in Hol- 
land, where you may see the neat housekeepers scrub- 
bing their doorsteps, even when the rain is pouring 
down upon their heads. The furniture in these houses Their fur< 
was plain and solid, — heavy claw-footed chairs, pol- 
ished mahogany tables, and cupboards full of old silver 
and china. Clocks and watches were rare ; and the time 
was told by hour-glasses and sun-dials. The floors were 



94 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

covered with white sand, on which many neat figures 
were traced with a broom. There were great open 
fireplaces, set round with figured tiles of different colors 
and patterns, commonly representing scriptural sub- 
jects, — the ark, the prodigal son, and the children 
of Israel passing the Red Sea. In the evening they 
burned pine-knots for light, or home-made tallow-can- 
dles. Every house had two or more spinning-wheels ; 
and a huge oaken chest held the household linen, all 




DUTCH HOUSE. 



Habits of 
the Dutch. 



of which had been spun upon these wheels by the 
women of the family. 

Many of the citizens had also country-houses, called 
"boweries," with porches, or "stoeps," on which the 
men could sit and smoke their pipes ; for the Dutch 
colonists did not work so hard as those in New Ens:- 
land : they moved about more slowly, and took more 
leisure, and amused themselves more, in a quiet way. 
They were not gay and light-hearted, and fond of dan 



OLD DUTCH TIMES IN NEW YORK. 95 

cing, like the French settlers in Canada; but they liked 
plenty of good eating and drinking, and telling stories, 
and hearty laughter, and playing at " bowls " on smooth 
grass-plots. It was the Dutch who introduced various 
festivals that have been preserved ever since in Amer- 
ica ; such as " Santa Claus," or " St. Nicholas," at cuua. 
Christmas-time, colored eggs at Easter, and the prac- 
tice of New-Year's visiting. They kept very early 
hours, dining at eleven or twelve, and often going to 
bed at sunset. Yet an early Swedish traveller describes 
them as sitting on the " stoeps " before their houses, on 
moonlight evenings, and greeting the passers-by, who, 
in return, were " obliged to greet anybody," he says, 
" unless they would shock the general politeness of the 
town." He also says that the Dutch people in Albany 
used to breakfast on tea, without milk, sweetened by 
holding a lump of sugar in the mouth ; and that they 
dined on buttermilk and bread, " and, if to that they 
added a piece of sugar, it was called delicious." But 
the Dutch housekeepers of New Amsterdam had a 
great reputation for cookery, and especially for a great 
variety of nice cakes ; such as doughnuts, olykoeks, and 
crullers. 

The people of New Netherlands were not quite so Dominies, 
fond of church-going as those who had settled Plym- 
outh and Salem ; but they were steady in the support of 
public worship, and had a great respect for their minis- 
ters, whom they called "dominies." Sometimes the 
dominies had to receive their salaries in beaver-skins, 
or wampum, when money was scarce. The dominie 
of Albany had one hundred and fifty beaver-skins a 
year. As for the dress of these early colonists, the Dress. 



96 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Employ- 
ments. 



William 
the Testy. 



women used to wear close white muslin caps, beneath 
which their hair was put back with pomatum ; and they 
wore a great many short and gayly-colored petticoats, 
with blue, red, or green stockings of their own knitting, 
and high-heeled shoes. The men had broad-skirted 
coats of linsey-woolsey, with large buttons of brass or 
silver: they wore several pairs of knee-breeches, one 
over another, with long stockings, and with great 
buckles at the knees and on the shoes ; and their hair 
was worn long, and put up in an eelskin cue. As to 
their employments, the people of New Amsterdam used 
to trade with the West Indies and with Europe, export- 
ing timber and staves, tar, tobacco, and furs. They 
used to build their own ships for this commerce, giving 
them high-sounding names ; such as " Queen Esther," 
" King Solomon," and " The Angel Gabriel." 

One of the Dutch governors, named William Kieft, 
used to be called "William the Testy," from his hot 
temper; and he kept the colony in a great deal of 
trouble, especially through his cruelty to the Indians, 
who injured the settlers very much in return. Gov. 
Kieft was very much displeased at the colonies sent 
from Massachusetts into Connecticut ; for he wished to 
see that region settled from New Amsterdam only. So 
he issued a proclamation against the New England 
men. But they, instead of paying the least attention 
to it, attacked the Dutch fort at Hartford, and drove 
the garrison away. They also took possession of the 
eastern part of Long Island ; threw down the coat-of- 
arms of Holland, which had been set up there ; and put 
a figure of a " fool's head " in its place. This failure, 
and the severity of Kieft's government, made him very 



OLD DUTCH TIMES IN NEW YORK. 97 

unpopular: and the people were very glad, when, in Peter stuy- 

IT r J i . , . , . vesant. 

1647, ^°v- Peter Stuyvesant was appointed ni his 
stead. 

Gov. Stuyvesant was a brave and honest man, but 
was so obstinate, that he was often called " Hardkoppig 
Piet," or " Headstrong Peter." Sometimes he was 
called "Old Silverleg," because he had lost a leg in 
war, and used to stump about on a wooden leg orna- 
mented with strips of silver. Under his government 
the colony was well defended, for a time, against Indi- 
ans, Swedes, and Englishmen. The trouble was, that 
he was quite despotic, and was disposed to let the peo- 
ple have as little as possible to do with the government. 
They did not feel that they had as much freedom as 
those who lived in the other colonies ; and they were 
not so ready to fight for their patroons and for the East 
India Company, as were the English colonists for their 
own homesteads. Then the English settlers increased 
very fast in wealth and numbers ; and the Dutchmen 
rather envied them, even while quarrelling with them. 
At last, in 1664, an English fleet, with many recruits surrender 
from New England on board, appeared before New posses- 
Amsterdam ; and very soon the town was surrendered 2°°^®^°*^® 
to the English by the general wish of the inhabitants, 
though quite against the will of " Headstrong Peter." 
He tore in pieces the letter from the English commo- 
dore requiring the surrender of the town ; but the peo- 
ple made him put it together again, and accept the 
terms offered. From that time forth, except for one 
short interval of time, the English held possession of 
New Netherlands. 

The name of the colony was then changed to New 



98 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

The Colony York, ill hoiior of the king's brother, the Duke of 
Duk^of^ York, to whom King Charles II. gave the province. 
York That part of New Netherlands south of the Hudson 

New Jersey ^ 

made a vvas, however, made into a separate province, under the 
province, name of New Jersey. The Duke of York allowed his 
own province to hold an assembly, that the people might 
make their own laws ; and in 1683 they obtained a 
charter for themselves, much like those of the colonies 
farther east. When the duke became king, under the 
name of James II., he tried to take away this charter, 
but never succeeded. New York remained an English 
province, and lost some of its Dutch peculiarities : but 
some of these traits lingered for a good many years ; 
and Dutch was long the prevailing language. There 
were slill Dutch schools, where English was taught 
only as an accomplishment ; but there was no college 
till King's College (now Columbia) was founded, in 
Manypeo- 1 754. After the English had taken possession, a great 

pie come to . . ^^ ..^ , , , 

New York, many immigrants came to New York, though not so 
many as to Philadelphia ; and these new-comers repre- 
sented many different nations. Indeed, Holland itself 
had long been the abode of men from a great many 
nations, both because of its commercial prosperity, and 
from its offering an asylum to those persecuted for their 
religion. So there was an unusual variety of people in 
New Amsterdam from the first; and it is said that 
eighteen languages were already spoken there when it 
was transferred to the English. Thus New York 
seemed marked out, from the very beginning, for a cos- 
mopolitan city, — for the home of people from all parts 
of the globe. 



OLD DUTCH TIMES IN NEW JERSEY. 99 

NEW JERSEY. 

When the first Dutch settlers built their fort on Man- First set- 
hattan Island, in 1614, they also built a redoubt on^ew"^ 
what is now the New Jersey shore, opposite ; and they Jersey, 
afterwards claimed the whole region as a part of New 
Netherlands. Danish settlers also came very earl}^, and 
settlers came from the English and Swedish colonies ; 
but this the Dutch did not approve : so they first used 
the help of the Swedes in driving out the English, and 
then drove out the Swedes themselves, sending most of 
them back to Europe. When the English got posses- 
sion of New Netherlands, in 1664, and the king gave 
it to his brother, the Duke of York, he in turn sold the 
southern part of it to two English noblemen, Lord 
Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The latter had been 
governor of the Island of Jersey in the British Channel ; 
and so he chose that name for the colony. His wife The name, 
was named Elizabeth ; and he named a village Eliza- 
bethtown, after her. His part was called East New 
Jersey, and Lord Berkeley's was West New Jersey ; and 
the colony was commonly called "The Jerseys," for 
many years. The whole region was gradually pur- subse- 
chased by the Society of Friends, or Quakers, and was t(iy°tothJ 
chiefly settled by them. Other persecuted people came ^g'^^i""^^, 
there also, especially Presbyterians from Scotland. 
They had perfect liberty of conscience ; and their char- 
ter said, " No person shall at any time, in any way, or 
on any pretence, be called in question, or in the least 
punished and hurt, for opinion in religion," At last, in 
1702, the colony was given up by the proprietors to 
Queen Anne, that a royal governor might be appointed. 

L.ofC. 



lOO YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

The two provinces were then made into one, though 
they had separate legislatures for a long time. Free 
Princeton schools Were introduced ; and the College of New Jer- 
sey, now Princeton College, was founded in 1746. The 
colony remained quiet and at peace, down to the time 
of the American Revolution. " In all its borders," 
said a traveller, " there is not a poor body, nor one 
that wants." 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE FRIENDS IN PENNSYLVANIA, AND THE 
SWEDES IN DELAWARE. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 



PENNSYLVANIA 
was founded in a 
different way from any 
of the other colonies, 
for it was entirely 
planned by one great 
and good man, who 
was the proprietor of 
the soil where the col- 
ony was established. 
His name was William 
Penn. He was a young- 
Englishman, h i g h 1 y 
educated, and rich. 
He had studied at Ox- 
ford University, and 
at a college in France ; 
but he was expelled 
from Oxford for tak- ^ 
ing part in Quaker ^^^^"= °" "^^^ ^^ Philadelphia. 
meetings and in some trouble that grew out of them ; 

lOI 




iiii"iiiiiii"iiiiii » 



I02 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



His grant 
of land. 



The name. 



Previous 
history. 



Arrival of 
Penn, 



and he was afterwards imprisoned several times for 
the same offence. He became a very thoughtful and 
conscientious man. It was said as a joke, among his 
former fashionable friends, that "William Penn was 
a Quaker, or some very melancholy thing." He spent 
his money freely in aiding those who were punished for 
conscience' sake ; and finally he resolved to found a 
colony in America, where such persecuted people could 
take refuge. 

It happened that his father, who was a famous ad- 
miral in the English navy, had left, at his death, a 
claim for a large sum of money which he had lent to 
Charles II. before he came to the throne ; and William 
Penn proposed to the king to give him a province in 
America instead of that money. This the king was 
very glad to do ; for he had plenty of American lands, 
and very little of English gold and silver. So William 
Penn became the sole proprietor of a great tract of 
country, on condition of paying two beaver-skins annu- 
ally to the king. Penn wished to have this territory 
named Sylvania, because it was covered with forests 
{sylva being Latin for " a forest ") ; but his name was 
added to the word, against his wish, by the king ; and 
the whole region was called Pennsylvania. It had 
been visited by the Swedes and Finns in 1627, and had 
afterwards submitted to the Dutch of New Nether- 
lands, and had passed, with all the Dutch possessions, 
into English hands. William Penn sent out some emi- 
grants in 1 68 1, and came in person the year after. He 
was received with great enthusiasm. It seemed very 
appropriate that he should come in the ship "Wel- 
come." It was right that he should be welcomed ; for 



THE FRIENDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. IO3 

he had permitted every poor emigrant to settle on this 
land which the king had given to Penn himself, and 
he had promised to secure freedom of thought and 
speech to all. He called it a "free colony for all man- 
kind," and wrote to the people, "You shall be governed 
by laws of your own making. I shall not usurp the 
right of any or oppress his person. " So when the 
Quaker King, as he was sometimes called, had landed, 
the English, Dutch, and Swedish settlers came together; 
the deeds given William Penn by the king were public- 
ly read ; and he addressed the people, who heard him 
with delight. The next year he bought the ground for Phiiadei- 
his chief city from some Swedes, who had bought it 
from the Indians ; and he laid out the city, and gave it 
the name "Philadelphia," which means " brotherly love." 
He built it on the plan of the ancient city of Babylon ; 
and he wished to have it " a faire and greene country 
towne. " At first it consisted of three or four little 
cottages ; and some of the people lived in hollow trees ; 
but in three years it gained more than New York 
gained in fifty, though New York has since outstripped 
it, being far better situated for commerce. 

William Penn remained only two years in his colony, The coionj 
and then went back to England, where he staj^ed a Penn-s ab- 
long time. During almost all this time, the people Eu'J-ope!' 
governed themselves, choosing their own officers and 
making their own laws. There was no tax to support 
] the poor, because none was needed. Every man who 
paid a tax for other purposes had a right to vote, with- 
out regard to religious belief or to nationality. No 
oath was required of witnesses in court. Theatrical 
exhibitions were forbidden ; and some other laws were 



Penn's 
return. 



104 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

made that resembled those of the Puritans ; but there 
was no religious persecution, and there was but one 
trial for witchcraft, and then the prisoner was convicted 
only of being '' suspected of being a witch." Neverthe- 
less, some of the cruel punishments that were usual in 
that age came gradually into use in Pennsylvania ; and 
the whipping-post, the pillory, and the stocks were set 
up in the market-place. Slavery also existed in Penn- 
sylvania ; and, if a slave killed his master, it was the 
law that he should be burned, though there is no record 
that this ever happened there. 

After fifteen years of absence, William Penn returned 
to his colony, and stayed two years, finding it very much 
changed since he left it. He was personally very 
popular ; and every one knew how generously he had 
thrown open to all settlers the estates that had been 
given him by the king. He himself felt that he had 
made great sacrifices. *' O Pennsylvania, " he once 
wrote, " what hast thou not cost me ! Above thirty 
thousand pounds more than I ever got for it, two 
hazardous and most fatiguing voyages, and my son's, 
soul almost." This referred to a son of his, who had 
behaved very badly during the father's absence The 
people of the colony knew what he had done for them, 
and were grateful ; and yet, after all, they were not so 
well contented as in those colonies where every man 
owned his own clearing. And, after William Penn had 
died, the settlers did not pay so much respect to the 
rights of his successors as they had paid to his rights ; 
and there was a good deal of discord in the colony. 
Employ- The early inhabitants of Pennsylvania were a very 

"®'''^* steady and industrious race. They lived by farming, 



THE FRIENDS IN PENNSYLVANIA. IO5 

commerce, and ship-building ; constructing many vessels 
for sale, as well as for their own use. The great coal- 
mines of the State were not then discovered ; but some 
iron furnaces were quite early established. Most of 
the English settlers preserved the simplicity of Quaker 
ways ; but they led very comfortable and even luxurious 
lives. They did not establish schools and colleges schools, 
quite so early as the eastern colonies ; yet the first girls' 
school in America is said to have been established 
at Lewistown, at a time when Delaware was a part of ' 
Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania was 
founded in 1749. 

Philadelphia remained, almost down to the Revolu- interesting 
tion, " a faire greene country towne," such as William cerning"' 
Penn had desired. The houses were generally of p^j^^fj^^' 
brick or stone, surrounded by gardens and orchards, "s citizens. 
A German traveller said, in 1748, that peaches w^ere so 
abundant around the town, that the very pigs were fed 
on them ; and that the country-people in Europe 
guarded even their turnips more carefully than people 
in Pennsylvania guarded the most delicious fruits. 
Any one who chose could get over any wall, and help 
himself. Every Philadelphian, he said, had so much 
liberty and abundance, that he could live in his own 
house like a king. Yet in those days a Philadelphia PMiadei. 
shop was only a common dwelling-house with goods in 
the lower rooms, and with something hung over the 
door to show what was sold within, — perhaps a basket, 
a book, a wooden beehive, or a model of an anchor or 
a ship. In the street before the shop there was no 
pavement, only a narrow flagging in the middle of the 
sidewalk. There were weekly market-days, which 



io6 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



were a kind of holiday ; and there was a public fail 
twice a year. At first the people were of a sober kind, 
and had few amusements ; but later there was a dan- 
cing-school, and then a public ball-room, and a race- 
ground, and a pack of hounds. As for travelling about, 
there was not very much of that to be done. Not only 
were there no railroads, but the common roads were 
bad, and the conveyances slow. In 1772 a stage, called 
" The Flying Machine," was advertised to go through 
from Philadelphia to New York in "the remarkably 
short time of two days." 
Great pros- The Pennsylvania Colony was for many years more 
this colony, prospcrous and comfortable than any other. Most of 
the foreign immigration came to the port of Philadel- 
phia ; and sometimes twelve thousand Germans arrived 
in a single year. About a third of the population 
were Quakers ; and these were a thrifty and orderly 
people. At the time of the American Revolution, 
Pennsylvania ranked third among the colonies in 
population and power ; being only surpassed by Vir- 
ginia and Massachusetts. 



DELAWARE. 



Facts in 
the early- 
history of 
Delaware. 



It happened once that an Englishman, Lord de la 
Ware, who was then governor of Virginia, made an ex- 
ploring expedition up the coast, and entered a beautiful 
river, which was afterwards called the Delaware, from 
his name. This was in 1610. Twenty years after, the 
Dutch tried to found a colony there ; but the colonists 
were all killed by the Indians. Some years after that, 
it was permanently settled by Sweden. It was the only 
colony that Sweden ever founded. 



THE SWEDES IN DELAWARE. 10/ 

It happened in this way. Gustavus Adolphus, the ^lan of the 
most famous king of Sweden, : — so famous that he was colony, 
called "The Lion of the North," — had heard about 
America, and resolved to plant a colony there. So a 
company was formed, which invited colonists, from 
every part of Europe, to go out under the control 
of the Swedish Government. The company resolved, 
in particular, to allow no slaves among them. 
" Slaves," they said, " cost a great deal, labor with re- 
luctance, and soon perish from hard usage. The Swe- 
dish nation is laborious and intelligent ; and surely we 
shall gain more by a free people with wives and chil- 
dren." Gustavus Adolphus called the proposed Amer- 
ican colony "the jewel of his kingdom," and thought 
that it would be a benefit to " all oppressed Christen- 
dom." 

Unfortunately the great Gustavus was killed in bat- ^ew Swe- 
tle in 1632 ; and his daughter Christina, a little girl 
only six years old, became queen in his place. But the 
Swedish prime-minister, Oxenstiern, was one of the 
wisest statesmen in Europe ; and he was resolved to 
carry out the plan of the American colony : so he sent 
out, in 1638, a large number of Swedes and Finlanders, 
who built a fort, and called it Christiana after their little 
queen. The colony itself they called New Sweden. 
Many more colonists followed, and their settlements ex- 
tended into what is now Pennsylvania ; so that the gov- 
ernor's house was at one time only a few miles from what 
is now Philadelphia. But this did not please the Dutch Troubles 
settlers in New Netherlands ; for they considered that the Dutch 
they had taken possession of the region first, and |^edes. 
that the Swedes were intruders. The Swedes were 



I08 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

very enterprising, and rivalled the Dutch in buying 
tobacco from Virginia traders, and in selling beaver- 
skins and other furs. Still the Dutch did not attack 
them, because the Swedish Government was power- 
ful in Europe, and would be sure to sustain its col- 
onies. However, the Dutch built a fort of their own, 
near Christiana ; but the Swedes captured it. Then 
the Dutch company would bear it no longer; and 
they ordered their governor, Peter Stuyvesant " to 
revenge their wrongs, to drive the Swedes from the 
river, or to compel their submission." So, in 1655, the 
Dutch governor sailed up the Delaware River, took 
back his own fort, and then took the Swedish forts. 
The Swedish Government had, by that time, grown 
much weaker in Europe, and did nothing to defend its 
only colony; and, after seventeen years of separate 
existence. New Sweden was merged in New Nether- 
lands, 
subse- Then came the English, in 1664, and drove out the 

que^nthis- j)^^^^ fj.^^^ ^I^g ^^j^^lg ^f ^g^^ Netherlands; so that 

Delaware belonged, in turn, to three different nations. 
After this it was at one time a part of Pennsylvania, 
and then at last (1703) a separate colony; but it was 
always a small and peaceful community, being shel- 
tered from the Indian attacks by the other colonies 
around it. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

THE OLD DOMINION AND MARYLAND. 



The "Old 
Docuiuiou.' 



John 
Smith. 



VIRGINIA. 

I HAVE described the early colonies in geographical 
order, beginning with New England, because this 
order is so much easier to remember than any other. 
But no colony can claim to date back so far as Vir- 
ginia, " The Old Dominion " as it is sometimes called. 
Nothing but a ruined church, at a place called James- 
town, now marks the spot where the first Virginia 
settlement was made, in the year 1607, thirteen years 
before the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. 
When King James I. gave a charter to two companies, 
one of which was to settle south of a certain region, 
and the other north of it, leaving a vacant space be- 
tween them, it was the southern or Virginia company 
that settled Virginia. 

The commander of the vessels that brought out the 
first Virginia colony was Capt. Newport ; but the lead- 
ing person among those on board was Capt. John 
Smith, a man who had led a very strange life. He was 
born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1579. When he was 
a boy of thirteen, he sold his school-books and satchel, 
meaning to run away to sea. Then his father died sud- 
no 



VIRGINIA. 



denly ; and he decided that he ought to stay at homCc 
But he was wiUing to stay only two years ; after which 




he left England, went smith's 

^ , ^^ , travels and 

to France and Hol- 



adventures 



land, and fought in vari- 
ous armies for several 
years. He had all sorts 
of wild adventures in 
these wars. Once, when 
sailing from Marseilles 
to Italy, he was accused 
by some superstitious 
fellow-passengers of being the cause of a storm that 



RUINS OF JAMESTOWN. 



112 



/OUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The first 
permanent 
English 
colony in 
America. 



had arisen : so they threw him overboard. He swam 
to an island, and was presently taken off by a French 
ship. This ship engaged in a sea-fight while he was on 
board ; and he so distinguished himself, that a part of 
the plunder of the hostile ship was given to him. After- 
wards he went to fight against the Turks ; and, during 
a long siege, a certain Turkish officer requested that 
some Christian officer would meet him in single com- 
bat "to amuse the ladies." 
Smith accepted the chal- 
lenge, and killed not only 
this officer, but two others 
in succession. After a 
time he was taken pris- 
oner, was sold as a slave, 
and was pitied and aided 
by his mistress, whose 
name was Tragabizanda. 
Then, making his escape, 
he reached Russia, went 
thence to Austria, Spain, 
and Morocco, and came 
CAPT. JOHN SMITH. back to Europc at last all 

ready for fresh adventures. 
He soon heard of Captain Newport's expedition to Vir- 
ginia, and eagerly joined it. 

They sailed Dec. 19, 1606, with three vessels ; the 
party consisting of a hundred and five men in all, 
without women or children. When they at last entered 
Chesapeake Bay, the explorers were delighted with all 
they saw ; and Captain Smith wrote that " heaven and 
earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's 




VIRGINIA. 113 

habitation." They called the capes between which they 
entered the bay, " Cape Henry " and " Cape Charles," 
after their young princes. They named "Old Point 
Comfort" for the good anchorage which they found 
there after a severe storm ; and they called James 
River "the King's River," and their first settlement 
"James City" (now Jamestown) in honor of their 
king. They landed at this place May 13, 1607, and 
founded the first permanent English colony in North 
America. 

It had been intended that Smith should be one of character 
the directors of the colony ; but the others were all colonists, 
jealous of him, and so prevented him from taking that 
position. But they could not prevent him from being 
the ablest man among them ; and so they often had 
to turn to him, and finally made him their president. 
The truth was, that the colonists were a troublesome 
class to deal with. Many of them were not at all in- 
dustrious or energetic. There were very few mechan- 
ics or farmers among them, though these are the men 
most needed in a new settlement. Many of them were 
" useless gentlemen ; " and some were pardoned crimi- 
nals. Some of them expected to reach the Pacific 
Ocean soon after landing, and were discouraged be- 
cause they did not. Others went looking everywhere 
for gold, and loaded one of their ships with earth, 
mistaking it for precious ore. Smith wrote once to the smith 
company in England who had fitted out the colony : England. 
"When you send again, I entreat you rather send 
thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, 
blacksmiths, and diggers-up of the roots, well provided, 
rather than a thousand of such as we have." Then 



114 . YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES 

they were reckless and wasteful, and built, says an old 
traveller, " a church that cost fifty pounds, and a tavern 
Smith's that cost five hundred." So Capt. John Smith had a 
men^of' good deal to do in keeping them to their duty, teaching 
them. them to cut down trees, and to build houses, drilling 

them as soldiers, and exploring the country to procure 
food for them. His punishment for idleness was star- 
vation ; and, in order to cure profane swearing, he had 
a daily account kept of every man's oaths; and at 
night, in penalty for each oath, he poured a can of cold 
water down the offender's sleeve. He himself worked 
harder than anybody; so that the others were put to 
shame by his example. And after a while, when the 
wives and children of these men came out to them, 
and they began to have comfortable homes, they did a 
great deal better ; and Captain Smith wrote home that 
they had become " accomplished wood-cutters." Yet 
still one of their governors said that what the colony 
most needed was "a few honest laborers, burdened 
with children." 
Thedis- Captain Smith wrote some vivid accounts of the early 

the colony, discomforts of the colony. He says, " When I first 
went to Virginia, I well remember, we did hang an 
awning (which is an old sail) to three or four trees, to 
shadow us from the sun : our walls were rails of wood ; 
our seats unhewed trees, till we cut planks ; our pulpit 
a bar of wood nailed to two neighboring trees. In foul 
weather we shifted into an old rotten tent, for we had 
few better ; and this came by way of adventure for new. 
This was our church, till we built a homely thing like a 
barn set upon crotchets, covered with rafts, sedge, and 
earth, as were also the walls. The best of our houses 



I 



VIRGINIA. 



"5 



were of the like curiosity, but, for the most part, far 
worse workmanship, that could neither well defend 
wind nor rain.'' . . . " Notwithstanding,'* he after- 
wards says, " out of the relics of our mercies, time and 
experience had brought that country to a great happi- 
ness, had they not so much doted on their tobacco, 
on whose firmest foundation there is small stability.'* 
It seems from this that Captain Smith foresaw what 
really happened, and feared that the cultivation of 
tobacco would exhaust the soil of Virginia, and would 
be in other respects injurious. 

Captain Smith, at different times, made expeditions Expedi- 
along the coast as far as Maine. He visited the Isles thJ'coart!*^ 
of Shoals in New Hampshire, which were formerly 
called " Smith's Isles," and on which a monument is 
now erected to his memory. It was he who first gave 
the name of " New England " to that part of the coun- 
try ; and the names of " Plymouth " and " Cape Ann " 
and " Charles River " appear first on a map made by 
him. He also made expeditions into the interior of the 
country. On one of these he was made prisoner by the capture of 
Indians ; and his few companions were killed. He, fS'inc^Ls 
however, amused his captors by showing them his com- 
pass, and by explaining to them the movements of the 
earth and sun ; so that they spared him. Then he puz- 
zled them very much by writing a letter to be sent to his 
friends ; for the Indians could not well understand how 
a message could be put on a piece of paper. Then he 
was condemned to death by Powhatan, an Indian chief ; 
but the chief's daughter Pocahontas, a girl twelve years pocahon. 
old, threw herself between the prisoner and the uplifted **^* 
tomahawk, and Captain Smith was spared. This story 



Il5 VOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

has been doubted in later times and may not be true, but it 
is certain that there was such a person as Pocahontas, and 
that, when she grew to be a woman, she became a Chris- 
tian, was married to an EngUshman named Rolfe, and 
went with him to England, where, as an English writer of 
that day says, " She did not onely accustom herself to 
civilite, but carried herself as the daughter of a king." 




Tha 

• ' Starving 
Time." 



SMITH SHOWING COMPASS TO THE INDIANS. 

She died soon after. Capt. John Smith also went to 
England in 1609, to be cured of a severe wound; and 
he never returned to the colony. After his departure, 
things grew worse and worse among the emigrants ; and 
in six months they left Jamestown in despair, meaning 
to return to England forever. When Captain Smith had 
left them, there had been five hundred of them : but 



VIRGINIA. 117 

now there were only sixty. "None dropped a tear," 
they wrote ; " for none had enjoyed one day of happi- 
ness. " But, as they went down the James River, they 
met the long-boat of a vessel ; and it proved to belong 
to an English ship which had brought them out a sup- 
ply of provisions and a new governor. Lord De la Ware, 
or Delaware. Then they returned, and went on living 
in Jamestown; but that period of suffering was always 
remembered as " the starving time." 

The settlers in Virginia did not generally live inThevir- 

o ^ ginia plan* 

villages, like those of the more northern colonies, tationa. 
The soil of Virginia was so productive, and the cultiva- 
tion of tobacco so profitable, that the men paid little 
attention to commerce or the fisheries ; and they were 
not, like the eastern colonists, obliged to live near 
one another for protection against the Indians. So 
no large towns or villages were established ; but they 
cultivated separate plantations, and it became the 
practice to send out " apprenticed servants " from Eng- 
land, who were sold for a certain number of years to 
the planters. These servants were men who had com- 
mitted crimes, or rebelled against the government, and 
who were sent to America in order that they might be 
of some use. After a time, in the year 1619, a Dutch Jj^^t^odue. 
man-of-war brought a cargo of twenty negroes from slavery. 
Africa; and the planters eagerly bought them, thus 
laying the foundation for the institution of slavery, 
which prevailed through the Southern States until 
within a very few years. The slaves became the field- 
laborers on the plantations, and were also the mechan- 
ics ; all articles of luxury being brought from England, 
and being paid for, like all else, with tobacco. Taxes Tobacot 



ii8 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Education. 



riie laws. 



were payable in tobacco ; and so were the salaries of 
the clergy, and all private debts. In the early days of 
the colony, ninety respectable young women were sent 
out by the company from England ; and whoever took 
one of them for a wife must pay a hundred pounds of 
tobacco. Fines were paid in the same commodity. If 
a woman was convicted of slander, her husband had to 
pay five hundred pounds of tobacco. Legacies were left 
by will, in the form of so much tobacco. A good deal 
of comfort was enjoyed in Virginia at that jDeriod ; and 
there was a good deal of rough and generous hospi- 
tality and a manly out-of-door life ; but there w^as very 
little education. A Virginia governor, writing in 167 1, 
said, " I thank God there are no free schools, nor print- 
ing ; and I hope we shall not have them these hundred 
years." Another governor gave orders " to allow no 
person to use a printing-press on any occasion what- 
ever ; " and still another taxed schoolmasters at twenty 
shillings a head. Yet William and Mary College, in 
Virginia, is, next to Harvard, the oldest college in 
America, having been founded in 1692. It had twenty 
thousand acres of land from the English king and 
queen, for whom it was named ; and duties were levied 
for its support. 

At first the Virginia settlers had no powder given 
them to make laws for themselves ; and everything was 
done by a council appointed by the king. Many of the 
early laws were very severe, especially about religious 
matters. In 1610 it w^as the law^, that, if any man 
absented himself from church for a single Sunday, he 
must lose his provision and allowance for a week ; and, 
if he repeated the offence, he must lose his allowance 



VIRGINIA. 119 

and be whipped ; and, if he offended a third time, he 
must suffer death. At a later time it was decreed, that, 
for the first absence from churcli, he must be tied neck 
and heels that night, and be a slave to the colony for 
the next week; for the second offence, he must be a 
slave a month : and, for the third offence, a year and a 
day. There were severe laws against swearing and Laws 
scolding ; and a woman who was an habitual scold swearing, 
might be ordered to be ducked three times in running 
water. In Virginia men and women might be pun- 
ished by being publicly whipped; or by being placed 
in the stocks ; or by standing in church, during the 
service, with white sheets over them, and white wands 
in their hands ; or by standing at the church-door with 
the names of their crimes pinned upon their breasts. 
There were also laws against the entrance of Quakers • 
and Roman Catholics into the colony ; and they were 
severely punished if they came. All these things were 
the practice of that period ; and very few communities 
were free from them. 

The influence of the clergy was not so great in Vir- charactei 
ginia as in the New England Colonies ; and the char- clergy, 
acter of the early clergymen was not so high. Many 
instances are recorded of drunken and disorderly min- 
isters of the Church of England, who came to the Vir- 
ginia Colony, and set a very bad example in the way of 
drunkenness, sfamblins^, and other vices. Society in style of 

' t> &' -' living. 

Virginia was free, hospitable, and not very severe as to 
morality. Many of the colonial gentlemen lived on 
large plantations, owned many thousand acres of land, 
held many slaves, and kept open house. There v/as a 
good deal of show and ceremony on public occasions. 



I20 • YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

One of the early governors, whenever he attended 
church, did so with a formality thus described bv his 
secretary : " Every Sunday, when the lord-governor and 
captain-general goeth to church, he is accompanied b> 
all the counsellors, captains, other officers, and all the 
gentlemen, with a guard of Halbardiers in his lordship's 
livery (fair red cloakes), to the number of fifty, on each 
side, and behind him. His lordship hath his seat in the 
Quoir, in a great velvet chair, with a cloth, with a velvet 
cushion spread before him, on which he kneeleth ; and 
on each side sit the council, captains, and officers, each 
in their place ; and, when he returneth home again, he 
is waited on to his house in the same manner." 
House of After a time the people of Viro^inia secured the rio^ht 

Burgesses, r r o ^ es 

to govern themselves They had a legislature of their 
own choosing, called *' the House of Burgesses, " whose 
laws only needed the approval of the company in Eng- 
land ; and a written constitution was obtained at last. 
The existence of slavery among them caused much igno- 
rance and idleness, as the wisest Virginians admitted ; 
but there grew up an aristocratic class, among whom 
there were many men of high character and energy. 
There still remain in Virginia the ruins of many old 
churches, and of stately houses built of imported brick, 
and having carved mahogany stairways, the memorials 
Virginia at of a proud and wealthv colony. At the time of the 

the time of . . -n i • tt- • • 

theRevoiu- American Revolution, Virgmia was the leader among 
^^°^' the colonies : it was the first to propose separation from 

the mother-country, and furnished many of the ablest 

men, both in congress and in camp. 



BfTects of 
slavery. 



MARYLAND. 121 



MARYLAND. 



The first settlement in what is now Maryland was The first 
made by a party from Virginia, headed by Capt. Wil- meni' in 
Ham Clayborne, who had a permit from the king of Maryland 
England to make discoveries, and to engage in the fur 
trade. He settled on Kent Island, in Chesapeake 
Bay, in 1631. But that region had been explored, just 
before, by an Englishman, George Calvert, Lord Balti- 
more ; and he had persuaded King Charles I. to 
give him a charter for a colony there. Lord Baltimore 
died before the charter was signed ; but his son Cecil, 
the second Lord Baltimore, took his place. In this 
charter, the new province was named " Terra Mariae," 
or " Mary's land," in honor of Queen Henrietta Maria, 
wife of the reigning king. Lord Baltimore sent out an 
expedition under his brother, Leonard Calvert. There 
were some two hundred colonists ; and they sailed in 
two vessels, the " Ark " and the " Dove." They landed 
in March, 1634 ; and their first settlement was called 
" St. Mary's," in honor of their queen. They often 
called themselves " the pilgrims of St. Mary's." 

Maryland was the only early colony which the king The gov- 
expressly agreed to let entirely alone. Lord Baltimore the'^oi'ony 
was to govern it without help or hindrance from Eng- 
land. The king even promised not to tax the colony, 
on condition that it should send him two Indian arrows 
every year in token of subjection, and should pay him 
one-fifth of any gold or silver that might be found 
within its borders. The charter provided that the 
settlers should have a certain share in making the 
laws : but, in fact, the laws were chiefly made by Lord 



122 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Eeligious 
toleration. 



Religious 
troubles. 



Baltimore, or by the governors whom he appointed. 
This the people did not like very well ; although Lord 
Baltimore was a good and enlightened man, and was 
particularly wise in regard to religious toleration. He 
was a Roman Catholic, and so were many of the first 
colonists ; but, from the very foundation of the settle- 
ment, it was understood that all Christian denomina- 
tions were to be on an equality in Maryland. In 
1649 the Assembly passed an act providing that 
"no person professing to believe m Jesus Christ" 
should "be molested in their religion, or in the free 
exercise thereof, or be compelled to the belief or 
practice of any other religion, against their consent." 
This did not, like the Rhode Island law, afford tolera- 
tion to Jews, and all others who were not Christians ; 
but hardly any other government in that age was so lib- 
eral as Maryland in this respect. The Quakers were 
sometimes punished for refusing to do military duty, 
but never for preaching their religious doctrines. The 
colony was sometimes called " the land of the sanctu- 
ary." 

Many Puritans, driven from Virginia by persecution, 
took refuge in Maryland, and, after a time, made a 
good deal of trouble, because they and their leader, 
Clayborne, could not get along harmoniously with the 
Roman Catholics. The Puritans were at last strong 
enough to pass an act declaring that the Roman Cath- 
olics were not entitled to protection in the colony whiclj 
they had founded. Then the king settled the matter by 
establishing the Church of England in Maryland, in 
1691 ; and, some twenty years after, he gave the colony 
into the hands of one of Lord Baltimore's descendants. 



MARYLAND. 1 23 

who had become a Protestant. Apart from this trouble Prosperity 
about religion, Maryland was prosperous, and was much ony. 
like Virginia in the occupations and habits of the peo- 
ple. It was a slaveholding community : there were few 
large towns ; and the people generally lived on planta- 
tions and raised tobacco. Like the Virginians, they 
paid their bills with this plant, and their State House 
cost forty thousand dollars' worth of tobacco. The In- 
dians molested them but little ; and, even in the French 
and Indian wars, it was only the far western settle- 
ments in Maryland that were disturbed. There was, to 
be sure, a good deal of trouble between Maryland and 
Pennsylvania about their boundary line ; but that was Mason and 
settled at last by appointing two surveyors, Mason and line?"^ ^ 
Dixon, to determine it ; and the line they drew in 
1763-67 has always been called " Mason and Dixon's 
line." For many years this line was of special impor- 
tance, because it divided the slaveholding States of the 
Union from the free States. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE SOUTHERN COLONIES. 
NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 

The first 'T^HE name of Carolina was first given to the region 
carTifnL'! -■- that now bears it, by a little colony of French 
Protestants, under Jean Ribault, who arrived as early 
as 1562, fleeing from persecution at home. They landed 
at Port Royal ; built there a fort of concrete, a part of 
the walls of which may still be seen ; and raised a stone 
monument engraved with the lilies which were the sym- 
bol of France. They named the new country Carolina, 
after Charles (or Carolus) IX., then king of France. 
But the colony failed, like almost every one planted on 
the American continent during that century. The sur- 
viving Frenchmen all went back to France ; and the 
attempt was abandoned. It was almost a hundred years 
before settlements began to be made from Virginia, from 
the New England Colonies, and from Barbadoes. Then, 
after a while, a great plan was formed in England for 
colonizing Carolina. North and South Carolina may 
be described at first as if they were one ; for they were 
not separated till long after. 
Carolina In the year 1663 King Charles II. of England 

eigMmen° granted the whole region called Carolina to eight pro- 

T24 



I 



NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 125 

prietors, most of whom were noblemen at his court. 
They were men of wealth and influence ; and they 
resolved to have a much more aristocratic form of 
pfovernment than any yet existing in America. At the Locke's 
request of the king, the plan for this was drawn up emment. 
by a philosopher named John Locke. It was skil- 
fully arranged in order to keep all the power in the 
hands of a very few persons. There was to be a regu- 
lar order of nobility, as in European countries. These 
nobles were to be called earls and barons; and the 
lands were ail to belong to them, while the condition 
of the common people was to be little better than that 
of slaves. But it turned out that the men who planned 
all this knew very little about colonies, and about the 
strong desire the people would show for self-govern- 
ment. King Charles and John Locke thought that the 
way to have the colony prosper was to give the mass 
of the people hardly any power ; but it had been found 
in all the other colonies that the way to secure pros- 
perity was to let the settlers own their lands, and gov- 
ern themselves as far as possible. So it turned out, at 
last, that the proprietors and earls and barons, who 
claimed to own Carolina, stayed at home ; and the plan 
of government from which so much was expected hardly 
Tvent into operation at all. 

Meanwhile settlers came from all directions into Growth 
Carolina. There were English, Irish, Scotch, Dutch, perityof 
and French. These last were Huguenots, or Pro- *^^ °°^°°* 
testants, fleeing from persecution, like those other 
Frenchmen who had given Carolina its name and set 
up the lilies of France there a hundred years before. 
These Huguenots had quitted France forever, and 



126 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

sought religious freedom under the English flag. Per- 
sonal freedom was not valued so highly in the colony ; 
and negro slaves were introduced from Barbadoes in 
1665. Except in this respect the colony prospered for 
Rice and a long time. The rice plant is said to have been acci- 
Cotton. clentally obtained out of the cargo of a vessel from 
Madagascar, that put into the port of Charleston, and 
it was soon very extensively cultivated ; but it was long 
before cotton was introduced, though it has since 
become the chief product of the southern part of 
The north- Carolina. It soon became the habit of the people of 
southern that southcm rcgiou to live on large isolated planta- 
section. tions, as in Virginia ; while in the northern part of 
Carolina the settlers lived yet farther from one another, 
in the woods, where there were no roads ; and they 
could travel only by paths " blazed " through the woods 
by notches made here and there upon the trees. 
There they supported themselves by cutting timber, 
making tar and turpentine, hunting the bear, and trap- 
ping the beaver ; all this being done with the aid of 
slaves, whom they had brought with them from Vir- 
ginia. So the northern and southern parts of Carolina 
came to have different habits and interests, even 
before they were separated into two distinct colonies. 
Theene- ^^ qj^^ time, whcn Spain and England were at war 

miesofthe ' '■ ° ^ 

colony. the province of Carolina was drawn into hostilities 
with the Spanish settlements in Florida. The colonists 
sent an armed expedition against St. Augustine ; and, 
in return, the Spaniards excited the Indians against 
the colonists. Both portions of Carolina had much 
trouble from these Indians, especially from the tribe 
of Tuscaroras, who were at last conquered, and had to 



GEORGIA. 127 

emigrate to New York, where they joined the Five 
Nations, in 1722. During the French and Indian wars, 
the French attacked CaroHna from Havana ; and the 
colonists were much harmed by these various enemies. 
They were also very much dissatisfied with the govern- The divt. 
ment of the English proprietors of the soil; and at 
last they rebelled, imprisoned the secretary of the 
province, and banished the governor. Finally they 
petitioned the king of England to buy out the pro- 
prietors, and make two royal provinces of the whole. 
This was done in 1729, after which North and South 
Carolina were permanently separated. Each province 
had a royal governor, with an assembly chosen by the 
people. As time went on, these royal governors be- 
came almost as unpopular as those whom the proprie- 
tors had before appointed. So the desire for self- 
government grew stronger and stronger among the 
people, down to the time of the American Revolution. 



GEORGIA. 

The colony of Georgia was founded by a very re- james 
markable man, Gen. James Oglethorpe. He became ^^^^^^^'■p^ 
an officer in the British army when very young, and 
w^as a great favorite with every one, on account of his 
courage, fine manners, and good looks. After a time 
he volunteered for duty in the army of Prince Eugene 
of Savoy, who was then fighting against the Turks. 
After distinguishing himself at the siege of Belgrade, 
Oglethorpe returned to England, and became a mem- 
ber of parliament. While in that position he was 
particularly interested in the condition of the poor 



128 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

debtors in England, who were then cruelly treated. 
This led him to plan a colony, to be established in 
America, whither all who were poor and unfortunate 
might come, and all who were persecuted for their reli- 
Settlement giou. So lic applied to King George II. for lands to 
be thus used ; and the king gave him a large tract be- 
tween Carolina and Florida. It was quite large enough 
indeed ; for it was supposed to reach to the Pacific 
Ocean. But, as it had been claimed by both the Eng- 
lish and Spanish, there was some doubt about the title 
to it; and this doubt led to much trouble afterwards. 
However, Oglethorpe fitted out a colony to his new 
possessions, in 1733, and went himself as their gov- 
ernor. The colony was named Georgia, after the king. 
The land was given to Oglethorpe and his associates 
" in trust for the poor ; " and the seal of the colony 
represented a family of silkworms with a Latin motto, 
meaning, "Not for themselves, but for others." 
Wise When Oglethorpe first arrived in the wilderness, he 

of og^e-^^ pitched his tent under four large pine-trees, where now 
thorpe. Savannah stands. This tent was for a year his only 
abode. He had a royal title to the land ; but he took 
care to pay the Indians of that region for it, and they 
were always friendly to him. Some of the chiefs 
presented to him a buffalo-skin, with the head and 
feathers of an eagle painted on the inner side. They 
said, "The feathers of the eagle are soft, signifying 
love ; the skin is warm, and is the emblem of protec- 
tion : therefore love and protect our little families." 
Oglethorpe always acted on this request; and he was 
not only a friend to the Indians, but also to the 
negroes ; and, though slavery existed in the neighboring 



GEORGIA. 129 

colony of South Carolina, he would not have it intro- 
duced into Georgia. He said that if slaves were to be 
introduced into Georgia he could "have no further 
concern with the colony." He also forbade the im- 
portation of rum ; and it was not allowed until after his 
departure. 

Many of the settlers in Georgia were Moravians, a The wes- 
persecuted sect of Christians from Austria. Some wwtefieid. 
celebrated English preachers came out to visit these 
people, — John and Charles Wesley, the founders of the 
great Methodist denomination ; and George Whitefield, 
who founded an " Orphan House " at Savannah, and 
supported it with sums of money gained by his preach- 
ing. But Whitefield was not so consistent as Ogle- 
thorpe in one respect ; for Whitefield was in favor of 
slavery, and it was by his influence that it w^as intro- 
duced into Georgia at last, after Oglethorpe's departure. 
The Wesleys, on the other hand, called slavery "the 
sum of all villanies." 

After a time, when there was war between Spain and Troubles 
England, Georgia, like Carolina, was led into hostilities Spaniards 
with the Spanish colony of Florida. Oglethorpe was 
made commander of the whole colonial force of a thou- 
sand white men and some Indians, and made an attack 
on St. Augustine in 1740. This failed; and he after- 
wards had to defend his own colony against an attack 
of the Spaniards. They came with three thousand men, 
and landed on St. Simon's Island, where they were at 
last utterly defeated. Soon after this, Oglethorpe left 
the colony for England. The other trustees, who had The coionj 
been appointed by the king, were in many respects thorpe-s 
unpopular. Some of their laws were very vexatious ; ^^eparture, 



130 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Hcotch 

Highland- 
ers. 



Manufac- 
ture of 
silk. 



as, for instance, that which limited the size of a man's 
farm, and that which prohibited women from inheriting 
land. After a while there were so many complaints 
that they gave up their charter ; and Georgia became 
a royal province. The king appointed most of the 
officers, though there was an Assembly of the people. 
General Oglethorpe never came back to America, but 
was always a warm friend to it. He lived to be a very 
old man, and was distinguished, when almost ninety, by 
his personal eloquence and courtesy. He was one of 
the best and noblest men ever connected with the 
settlement of America. 

Besides the Moravian settlement, there was a High- 
land settlement, of Scotch Highlanders, in Georgia, 
whose affection Oglethorpe had first won by wearing 
the Highland dress when he went to visit them. These 
Highlanders, like the Moravians, took a good deal of 
pains about the education of their children, — a thing 
much neglected in the rest of the colony. The people 
cleared the forests, and occupied themselves in agricul- 
ture, with the aid of their slaves. Great pains were 
taken by the English Government to encourage the 
manufacture of silk, and, for a time, it flourished. 
Persons skilled in the rearing of the worms, and the 
winding of the silk, were sent out from England ; and 
this industry was continued in Georgia down to the 
time of the Revolution. General Oglethorpe took to 
England the first silk that was produced; and the 
queen had a dress made of it. Georgia never was 
thickly settled, and was the youngest and weakest of 
the colonies at the time when the great war broke 
out that separated them from the mother-country, and 
united them all into a nation. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE INDIAN WARS. 

SOON after the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock, 
they saw a few Indians, who ran away. But, in the 
following spring, an Indian came boldly among them, 
one day, saying, " Welcome, Englishmen ! " This sur- 
prised them very much ; for they did not know how the 
stranger could have learned the English language. It 
turned out that his name was Samoset, and that he 
lived farther east, along the coast, and had known the 
English fishermen. Many Indians had made acquaint- 
ance with Europeans in this way, and had sometimes 
been treated badly ; so that they were not all as confid- 
ing as Samoset. He remained one night with the set- 
tlers ; and, when he went away, they gave him a knife, 
a bracelet, and a ring; and he promised to return soon, 
and bring other Indians with beaver-skins for sale. Ere Massasoit 
long he returned, and made the Englishmen acquainted 
with a chief, called Massasoit, who ruled more men than 
any one in that region. He soon made a treaty with 
the colonists in behalf of his tribe ; and this treaty 
lasted more than fifty years. Massasoit was the 
sachem of the Wampanoags, a tribe that had been 
very important, though it had just been greatly reduced 

131 



^2 



yOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The Pil- 
grims visit 
Massasoit. 



by disease ; and his friendship was of the greatest value 
to the Pilgrims. 

Once the Pilgrims sent an expedition to Massasoit's 
lodge to visit him. The messengers carried " a horse- 
man's coat of red cotton " for the king, and beads and 
jack-knives for his chiefs ; and Massasoit put on his red 
coat, and treated them kindly. At another time, when 




WELCOME, ENGLISHMEN 1 



a friendly Indian, named Squanto, was said to have 
been killed by the Narragansetts, a party of ten colo- 
nists marched into the forest, and surrounded the hut 
where the chief of this tribe was ; and, though he had 
five thousand fighting men at his command, they com- 
pelled him to leave Squanto unhurt. The Indians had 
not yet learned the use of fire-arms \ and their arrows 



THE INDIAN WARS. 133 

did not put them on an equality with the well-armed 
Englishmen. Afterwards the chief of the Narragan- Governor 
setts sent to Governor Bradford a bundle of arrows reply to the 
wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. The governor I'^^^i^'^s. 
stuffed the skin with powder and shot, and sent it 
back; and the Indians were afraid to keep it, and 
threatened no more. But the Pilgrims paid for all 
they obtained from the natives ; and, when they finally 
went to war, it was to defend another colony, which 
had treated the Indians badly. In this war, under 
Capt. Miles Standish's orders, several Indians were 
killed ; and this caused great regret to good Mr. Rob- 
inson, the pastor whom the Pilgrim congregation had 
left behind at Leyden. " I would you had converted 
some," said he, " before you had killed any." 

Both in the Plymouth and the Massachusetts Col- Dealings 
onies, it was the rule that no one should take any Indians, 
thing from the Indians without paying for it. The year 
after the Massachusetts Colony was founded (163 1), 
the court decreed thus, in the quaint spelling of those 
days : *' It is ordered, that Josias Plastowe shall (for 
stealing four baskets of corne from the Indians) 
returne them eight baskets againe, be fined five pounds, 
and hereafter be called by the name of Josias & not 
Mr. as formerly he used to be." This shows how 
carefully they tried to do justice ; though it is very 
likely that there was often occasion for such punish- 
ments as this. Large tracts of land were often ob- 
tained for a blanket or a knife ; and, though this 
bargain would now seem to us very unfair, yet we must 
remember that the knife or the blanket might often be 
of more value to the Indian than a dozen square miles 



134 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

of forest land, especially as there was a whole conti- 
nent left for him to occupy. It was only when settlers 
multiplied, that land began to have any of the value 
that it now possesses. 
The Pequot The first Connccticut settlers found fiercer tribes to 
deal with than the Pilgrims ; and they had very early a 
war with the Pequots, in which all the New England 
colonists were involved. It would have been much 
more serious than it was, but that Roger Williams 
used his influence over the Narragansett tribe to keep 
them from joining the war. A council of the Indians 
was being held ; and Roger Williams, in order to save 
the very men who had banished him from Massachu- 
setts, went many miles in a canoe in a severe storm. 
The Pequots were enraged with Williams for inter- 
fering ; but, after four days of delay, the Narragansetts 
refused their aid. The Pequots kept up constant at' 
tacks upon the Connecticut settlers ; and at last an 
expedition w^as sent against them (in 1637), consisting 
of ninety white men and several hundred Indian allies, 
under command of Capt. John Mason. Their object of 
attack was the chief fort of the Pequots, which lay near 
Descriptiou what is now Stonington, Conn. The fort covered more 
fort.^*^"*" than an acre, which was enclosed by trunks of trees, 
about twelve feet high, set firmly in the ground, close 
together. Within these were some seventy wigwams, 
covered with matting and thatch, and arranged in two 
lanes. There were two entrances ; and Captain Mason 
stationed himself at one of these, and the next in com- 
mand, Captain Underbill, at the other, each having a 
portion of the colonists with him, while the Indian allies 
were arranged outside. As they were taking their posi- 



THE INDIAN WARS. 



135 



tions, a dog barked, and they heard the cry from within, 
" Owamix, Owanux !'"' (" Englishmen, Englishmen ! ") 



♦• ^3^ 




■^^ J^ 



^^r^^ 






4 










CAPTAIN UNDERHILL'S PICTURE OF THE FIGHT. 



Then the attack began. The roofs of the Indian cabins Attack or 

r 11 r 1 T T *^® fort. 

were set on nre, and the greater part of the Indians 
were killed ; while only two white men were slain. 



136 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

many, however, being wounded. It was the first great 
blow inflicted by the whites on the Indians ; and for 
forty years after it there was much more peace between 
the two races in New England. 
lohn Eliot. It is pleasant to know that, while this fighting was 



lettes. 



§0 



inpf on. 



there were men among: the Puritans who 



were trying to do good to the Indians and to secure 
peace in a gentler way. One of the most eminent of 
the Massachusetts clergymen, Rev. John Eliot, pastor 
of the First Church in Roxbury, devoted himself to 
learning their habits and language, and to making for 
them a translation of the Bible. This translation was 
printed at Cambridge ; and part of the type was set 
by an Indian compositor. Eliot gathered those who 
became Christians into a town at Natick, Mass. Other 
good men imitated him, such as the Mayhews, Cotton, 
Brainerd, and others ; and at last there were thirty 
churches of " praying Indians " as they were called, 
under native preachers. Similar churches had been 
established in Canada by the French Roman Catholic 
missionaries. Once, during the time when there was 
bitter hostility between the English and French settlers, 
Dreuii- a Jesuit missionary named Dreuillettes, came to the 
Massachusetts Colony on an embassy, to try to make a 
league with the English settlers against the Mohawks, 
It was a time when Jesuits were forbidden, on pain of 
death, from coming to Massachusetts ; but this mission- 
ary came, and was kindly received by Eliot, whom he 
calls " Maistre Heliot," and who invited the supposed 
Jesuit to pass the winter with him. There were so 
many quarrels between the French and the English in 
those early days, and between the Roman Catholics and 



THE INDIAN WARS. 



137 



ip's War. 



Protestants, that it is pleasant to see any instances of 
harmony and toleration. 

The severest of the early Indian wars broke out in King Phu- 
1675, and was called " King Philip's War." King Philip 
was the son of Massasoit, the firm friend of the whites, 
and he ruled over the Wampanoags. His chief resi- 
dence was at Mount Hope, nearly opposite what is 
now called Fall River, Mass. 
That peninsula had been re- 
served for the tribe when the 
rest of their lands were sold. 
Philip was a brave and thought- 
ful man. He saw that the 
white settlements were grad- 
ually increasing, and that the 
Indians were being confined 
to a smaller and smaller space ; 
and he resolved to unite the 
tribes in a desperate effort to 
drive the English from the 
soil. He went from tribe to 
tribe, all the w^ay from Maine 
to Connecticut, and almost 
every tribe joined the league, even the friendly Nar- 
ragansetts, whose chief, Miantonomi, had been slain 
through the treachery of some whites. Philip had laid 
his plans so well, that the war broke out along a line of 
two hundred miles, within three weeks. It was pecu- Destruc- 
liarly severe in Western Massachusetts, where town after town*fin 
town was burned. Tradition says that in one village, yestem 

•' '=' ' Massachu 

Hadley, when it was attacked by the Indijins, and the setts, 
settlers were all irresolute for want of a leader, a ven- 




KING PHILIP. 



138 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

erable man, unknown to all, appeared suddenly in the 
streets, took command of the people, gave military 
orders that led to the defeat of the Indians, and then 
disappeared as suddenly as he came. It was afterwards 
supposed that this mysterious person was William Goffe, 
* who had been a general in Cromwell's army, and had 
been compelled to flee from England as a " regicide " 
for having been one of the judges who sentenced 
Charles I, to death. Goffe, and his companion Whalley, 
were long in concealment among the forests and caves 
of Connecticut. This sudden appearance at Hadley is 
described in Hawthorne's story of " The Gray Cham- 
pion," though he has changed the time and place of 
the event. 
Narragan- To break the power of the Indian league, an expedi- 
pediuon. tion of a thousand men, under Captain Winslow, was 
sent against the Narragansetts in Rhode Island. In 
the depth of winter the colonists made their way to ^ 
the Narragansett town. It was in a swamp, surrounded 
by palisades. At last, after two hours' fighting, the 
attacking party entered the fort ; and the tribe was 
almost wholly exterminated. Still Philip kept in the 
field, and is said to have slain one of his warriors for 
proposing peace. In 1676 a strong Puritan force was 
sent against him, under Captain Church ; and they cap- 
tured his wife and child. " My heart breaks," said 
King Philip : " now I am ready to die." The child was 
a boy of nine, and was the last of the race of Massa- 
soit. The Puritans, who had owed so much to the 
grandfather, sold the child as a slave to Bermuda. 
Soon after this King Philip was hunted down and 
killed ; and so ended a war that had lasted two years, 



THE INDIAN WARS. 139 

and had cost, as was estimated, six hundred lives. 
Twelve or thirteen towns had been entirely destroyed; 
and it was estimated that one family in every eleven 
had been burned out, and that every eleventh soldier 
had fallen. 

While these Indian wars were going on in New Eng- Bacon's 
land, other colonies had similar troubles. The Dutch 
in New Amsterdam committed cruel outrages on the 
Indians, and suffered severely in return. In Virginia 
the Indians attacked the remoter villages ; and the 
Engrlish Government would not let the settlers have 
arms for their own defence. This led to a sort of 
rebellion; and a brave man named Nathaniel Bacon 
procured a supply of arms, and organized a force to 
fight the Indians. Then Governor Berkeley tried to 
put him down ; and Bacon took the city of Jamestown, 
and burned it in revenge, beginning with his own house, 
and destroying the whole town so thoroughly, that 
scarcely a vestige of it now remains. Soon after this. 
Bacon died ; but there was more peace with the Indians 
in Virginia for many years after this. 

The colony that had least trouble with the Indians Penn's 

. treaty. 

m early days was Pennsylvania. This was partly the 
result of the wise and righteous course pursued by 
William Penn, the founder. He made a treaty, in the 
very year of his arrival (1682), with the Delawares and 
other tribes. Standing under a great elm-tree a 
Shackamaxon, on the northern edge of Philadelphia, 
he told the Indians how he meant to treat them. He 
said to them, " I will not call you children, for parents 
sometimes chide their children too severely ; nor bro- 
thers only, for brothers differ. The friendship between 



I40 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

you and me I will not compare to a chain ; for that the 
rains might rust, or the falling tree might break. We 
are the same as if one man's body were to be divided 
into two parts ; we are all one flesh and blood." To 
this the Indians replied, " We will live in love with 
William Penn and his children as long as the sun and 
moon shall endure." And they fulfilled this treaty. 
Pennsylvania is said to have been the only colony 
where the evidence of an Indian was taken in court 
against that of a white man ; and the Indians proved 
themselves worthy of this just treatment. 
The Quak- xhc Socicty of Friends, or Quakers, in New Jersey, 
Indians. showcd the samc generous and just conduct toward 
the Indians ; and the Indians treated them equally well; 
" You are brothers," said the sachem ; " and we will 
live like brothers with you. We will have a broad path 
for you and us to walk in. If an Englishman falls 
asleep in this path, the Indian shall pass him by, and 
say, ' He is an Englishman, he is asleep : let him 
alone.'" 

It is often said that not a drop of Quaker blood was 
ever shed by an Indian ; and, though this is not quite 
true, yet it is true that Pennsylvania and New Jersey 
suffered much less than most of the other colonies. 
This was partly due to William Penn's policy; but it 
is also to be remembered that the Indians on whose 
territory the Quaker colonists settled were a peaceful 
and humble tribe (the Delawares), who had been 
conquered by the Iroquois. It is not certain that it 
would have been as easy to keep the peace with the 
fierce tribes that then inhabited New England and 
New York. But Penn's treaty with the Indians has 



THE INDIAN WARS. I4I 

always been very famous ; and the great elm-tree under 
which it was made was so well known, that almost a 
century afterwards, when the American colonies were 
fighting for their independence, the commander of an 
English army placed a sentinel under that tree to pro- 
tect it from his soldiers, who were cutting down all the 
surrounding trees for fuel. It stood safely until within 
a few years, when it was blown down. 

The successors of William Penn did not always The 
continue his generous treatment of the Indians. For p^c^ase^- 
instance, there was a celebrated purchase of land, 
called the " Walking Purchase." The proprietors of 
the soil had a deed from the Indians, granting them as 
much land in a certain direction as a man could walk 
over in a day and a half. Of course, it was supposed 
that the walking would be done by an ordinary man in 
an ordinary way. Instead of this, the proprietors laid 
out a smooth road for the whole distance ; then chose 
the most active men they could anywhere find, and put 
them in training for the walk. Thus they included a 
great distance in the land walked over, and then 
required the Indians to remove from it. The Dela- The Deia- 
wares objected ; and then the more powerful Iroquois, ^^ou^t. "^ 
their previous conquerors, were called in by the Eng- 
lish, and forcibly drove the Delawares from the lands. 
William Penn certainly would not have approved of this 
mode of dealing. However, the Pennsylvania colo- 
nists always suffered less from the Indians than did 
almost any other colony, down to the terrible period of 
the " French and Indian wars." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 



Cause and 



THE terrible " French and Indian wars," in which 
„^^^^ ..„.„. all the colonies were more or less involved, took 

place in this way. As the white settlements increased, 
the native tribes steadily diminished; so that by 1675, 
when there were fifty-five thousand whites in New 
England, there were but some thirty thousand Indians, 
or, as some think, not nearly so many. The Indians' 
lands had been bought by the new comers, or ob- 
tained by treaty, or seized after war, till they were 
reduced to mere strips of territory here and there. 
Then the white men were much better armed, even 
after the natives had learned the use of fire-arms. So 
the Indians could not cope with the English without 
some aid ; and, unhappily, the French settlers in 
Expiora- Canada were very willing to render this aid. For the 
French. ^ French had been the first explorers of the interior 
regions of the continent. They had gone from Canada, 
along the Great Lakes, and down the Illinois and Ohio 
and Mississippi Rivers ; and they wished to keep the 
English out of all that region, and not even to let them 
trade with the Indians. Moreover, the French Roman 
Catholic missionaries had converted many of the 
Indians to their form of Christianity; and these con- 
verts naturally took the part of their priests against 
142 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. I43 

the English settlers, who were almost all Protestants. 
Besides all this, the French had treated the Indians 
with more consideration than the English had shown. 
The French had adopted the Indian ways when among 
them ; and many had even married Indian wives : so 
it was natural that the native tribes should have more 
liking for the French. Yet some of the shrewder men 
among them did not love either of these nations of 
foreigners. One of them said to an English visitor, 
"You and the French are like the two edges of a pair 
of shears ; and we are the cloth which is cut to pieces 
between you." 

All this led to a series of wars which were far worse Their 
than the early Indian wars, because the French sup- °*°^®^- 
plied the native tribes with much better weapons than 
they had before used, and taught them how to build 
forts in a stronger way. These wars were called by 
different names ; as, King William's War (1689), Queen 
Anne's War (1702), King George's War (1744), and, 
finally, "The Old French and Indian War" (1755 to 
1763). This last was the most important ; but the whole 
series made really one long war, sometimes pausing, 
and then beginning again, the object being to decide 
whether the French or the English should control the 
continent. 

In these wars the Indians rarely met the w^hites in The mode 
open field, but trusted rather to sudden surprises, night- °^'^^"^''^ 
attacks, and swift marches. The chief terrors came 
upon lonely families and small villages. When the 
inhabitants were asleep, they were liable to be awak- 
ened by the sound of the Indian war-whoop, or the 
glare of houses in fiames. Then the men must get 



144 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

down their loaded muskets ; and the women must take 
the bullet-moulds, and begin melting lead to make 
bullets ; or must load the guns as fast as they were 
fired. Sometimes, when the lead was gone, they picked 
the bullets of the Indians from the walls where they 
had struck, or spread blankets to collect them as they 
rattled against the chimney, and fell. Or they watched 
their opportunity to flee to the " block-house," or " gar- 
rison-house," that was often placed in or near a village. 
This was usually a small wooden fort of two stories ; 
the lower story being sunk a few feet into the ground, 
and the upper projecting a few feet beyond the lower. 
The first story was made of squared logs, as much as a 
foot and a half in diameter, though smaller logs were 
used above. There were loop-holes through which 
guns could be fired, and gratings in the roof, where 
smoke could escape. Sometimes these block-houses 
were held for many days against the Indians ; since the 
attacking-party had no cannon, and could not approach 
near enough to set the house on fire, without being 
shot down, 
story of When the Indians attacked by day, they selected 

Dus'S)n^ houses from which the men were absent. Thus thev 
approached the house of a man named Thomas Dus 
ton or Dustin in Haverhill, Mass. He was absent in the 
fields, and reached the house too late to defend his wife 
who was ill in bed, and had her young infant with her 
He collected seven of his children, however, and sent 
them running along the road ; then seized his gun, and 
mounted his horse, with the intention of taking up 
before him the child he loved best, and defending the 
others as he could. But he could not possibly decide 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 

which child to take : so he hurried the little party 
along, loading, and firing at the Indians, who fired in 
vain at him, until he reached a place of safety a mile 
away. Meanwhile the Indians compelled Mrs. Duston 
to go with them, together with her baby and nurse and 
young boy. The baby was soon killed, as being a 



145 




DUSTON SAVING HIS CHILDREN. 



hindrance to the march ; but the others were led for 
several days through the forest. At last, when they 
were encamped on an island in the Merrimack River, 
the prisoners discovered that they were to be put to 
death with tortures at the end of the journey, and 
resolved to save themselves. At night, when their Escape of 
■captors were asleep, the three prisoners killed with ers.^"^^'^ 



146 YOUNG folks' united states. 

tomahawks ten of the twelve Indians, and escaped to 
the white settlements. 
The attack At another time the French and Indians attacked 
field. the town of Deerfield, in the western part of Massa- 

chusetts. It was in February, 1704. The attacking 
party came down on snow-shoes from Canada, for the 
purpose. It consisted of both French and Indians, 
and was commanded by Hertel de Rouville, a French 
leader, who was a great terror to the colonists in those 
days. The people of the village had been warned of 
their danger, and had built a barricade around their 
houses, and kept a watch every night. One very cold 
night the sentinel went to sleep, and the poor people 
were awakened by the war-whoop. The marks of 
tomahawks are still to be seen on the door of the old 
parsonage house, which was attacked. Rev. John 
Williams, who lived there, was captured with his wife 
and six children ; and they were all carried away to 
Canada, with nearly a hundred others. It was a 
terribly cold winter. The Indians took the clothes 
from some of the captives ; and many had only a 
blanket apiece, and only moccasons on their feet. 
During all their terrible march, they had scarcely any 
food except ground-nuts and acorns. Two or three 
Cruelty to tiiTics Only they had dog's flesh. They were compelled 
lives. to walk twenty or thirty miles a day, carrying burdens 

for their new masters. Sometimes the children were 
treated kindly by the Indians, and were carried in their 
arms, or on rude sleds for the purpose ; but in other 
cases, when they lagged behind, they were killed with 
tomahawks. Mrs. Williams, the m.inister's wife, was 
also killed in this way. When the survivors reached 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. I47 

Canada, they were sold to the French as slaves, and 
were treated with a good deal of kindness by them ; 
and Mr. Williams was redeemed and brought back. 
He lived to write an account of his adventures, under 
the name of " The Redeemed Captive." All his chil- 
dren were brought back with him, except one little 
girl, who had been adopted into a family of Christian 
Indians, and was not allowed to leave them. She grew 
up, and married a chief, and returned to Deerfield 
several times, but would not remain ; preferring to go 
back to her Canadian wigwam and her children. 

We can easily imagine how the colonists felt toward Feelings of 
the Indians, when such tales as these were talked over onists^to- 
by the open fireside, in many a lonely farm-house, prTnch^and 
where the children lay awake afterwards, listening for Indians, 
the Indians' war-whoop. And they felt quite as 
bitterly towards the French missionaries in Canada, 
who were supposed to encourage the Indians in their 
attacks. Yet these French missionaries often showed 
humanity to the captives; and, indeed, some tribes, 
under their influence, ceased to torture their prisoners. 
These Indian wars were the greatest possible inter- 
ruption to all other pursuits ; for there were times 
when one-fifth of all those capable of fighting had to 
be absent from their homes. It is no wonder that the 
colonists became almost desperate ; so that they offered 
rewards for every Indian killed, — from five to fifty 
pounds. 

It was very important to the colonists that the English capture of 
Government should send expeditions against the French 
in Canada, to keep them busy in defending themselves. 
The colonists were always ready to take part in these 



148 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



expeditions, and sometimes led them. For instance, a 
party was sent out from Marblehead, Mass., under com- 
mand of Gen. William Pepperrell, to attack the French 
fortress of Louisburg, on Cape Breton. This was the 
most important military enterprise that the colonists 
had yet undertaken. It was fitted out by the Massachu- 
setts Colony ; the men be- 
ing from Massachusetts, 
New Hampshire, and Con- 
necticut. Four thousand 
men took part, leaving their 
wives and children to plant 
their fields while they were 
gone. Louisburg was the 
strongest fortress on the 
American continent, — so 
strong, that it was called 
"The Gibraltar of North America." The attacking 
party had but twenty-one field-pieces, and there were a 
hundred and seven cannon inside the fort ; but, after 
a siege of fifty-days, Louisburg was taken from the 
French. This was in 1745. 
French and Wc must rcmembcr that at this time the English 
claims. colonies occupied only a strip of land along the 
Atlantic coast, though this strip extended for a thou- 
sand miles ; while the French held Canada and Nova 
Scotia, and claimed all the vast interior region, from 
the St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi. 
The Governor of New York wrote home to England, 
that, if the French were allowed to hold all that they 
had discovered, the kings of England would not 
" have a hundred miles from the sea anywhere." Not 




THE FRENCH AND IND'AN WARS. 



[49 



only did the French claim all this ; but they kept busily 

at work in the interior of the country, establishing 

trading-posts, building forts, making boats on the lakes, 

and collecting the materials of war. They would* not 

let the English make so much as a survey of land in 

the valley of the Ohio. So it was resolved to send a washing- 

messenger to remonstrate with the French officers and t^r,^^ ^^^' 




WASHINflTON AMID THE ICE OF THE ALLEGHANY. 



agents ; and George Washington, then a young man ol 
twenty-one, was appointed by the Governor of Virginia 
for that purpose. This w^as in October, 1753. 

Washington had to travel through an almost un- 
broken forest, and to meet many perils ; and he accom- 
plished nothing by his appeals. His return was in the 
dead of winter, and harder and more perilous than his 



!50 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

journey westward. Much of the journey was through 
forests which no white man had ever explored ; and he 
had to pass over rivers on the ice, or else, amidst floating 
ice, on hastily constructed rafts. As he crossed the Alle- 
ghany River in this way, his raft was entirely hemmed in 
by the ice, his " setting-pole " was whirled from his hand 
by the swift current, and he himself was thrown into the 
water. Finally he and his companion left the raft, and 
took refuge on an island in the river, where they stayed 
till daylight, soaked with water, and almost frozen. In 
the morning they succeeded in crossing the ice to the 
shore, and at last got safely home. After all Wash- 
ington's efforts, the French went on building forts with 
as much energy as ever, till they finally had a chain 
of sixty, stretching from Quebec to New Orleans, and 
securing to them, as they thought, all the interior of the 
continent. 
Treaty It happened very fortunately for the colonists that 

with. tliG 

Six Na- the powerful Iroquois tribes, who lived west of the 
Hudson River, had long been their friends, and hostile 
to the French. These tribes were called the " Five 
Nations ; " they were the Cayugas, Mohawks, Oneidas, 
Onondagas, and Senecas. After a while they were 
joined by the Tuscaroras, and were called the " Six 
Nations." The names of these tribes are likely to be 
preserved, because some lake or river in New York 
is named after each of them. And they ought to be 
remembered with gratitude ; for their friendship was of 
great importance to the English colonists. In 1754 
the English Government instructed the governor of the 
colonies to call a convention of delegates at Albany, 
to make a treaty with these " Six Nations," and to 



tions. 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 



^51 



form a union for self-defence against the French. There 
had been several attempts at such union before, but 
without much success. 

Albany was then a little Dutch town of only three Meeting of 

•' . delegates 

hundred houses, protected by the Hudson Riyer on at Albany, 
one side, and by a line of picket-fence on the other : 
it had also a stone fort. At this place the twenty-five 
delegates from the different colonies met a hundred 
and fifty Indian chiefs, and made a treaty with them, 
though the Indians reproached them for not being so 
warlike as the French, and for not building forts every- 
where like them. Then Dr. Benjamin Franklin pro- 
posed to the delegates a plan of 
union. Before he left home, he 
had printed in his newspaper at 
Philadelphia a woodcut repre- 
senting a snake cut into separate 
pieces to represent the colonies ; 
each piece having upon it the 
initial letter of the name of some 

colony, and the inscription appearing beneath, "Unite 
or die." This design was afterwards used as a flag. 
Dr. Franklin told the convention that the French, being 
under one government, were much more powerful than 
the thirteen English separate colonies, all jealous of one 
another. Under his lead, the convention agreed upon 
a plan of union ; but the colonies afterwards rejected 
it. They were not quite ready for union yet. Still 
they agreed sufficiently to carry on the Old French 
War with great vigor for nine years ; and it ended in 
accomplishing all they desired. 

One of the first steps in this war was a very cruel act 







1^2 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

There was a French province called Acadia, now Nova 
Scotia ; and this was occupied by the English at the 
beginning of the war, in 1755. The French inhabitants 
would not take the oath of allegiance to England ; and 
so the New England soldiers were sent by the English 
Government to remove the Acadians from their coun- 
try. In some villages the men were all summoned 
into the church to hear a royal proclamation. There 
they found themselves prisoners ; and they were then 
marched to the seashore. Seven thousand people were 
thus sent from their homes, and scattered through the 
colonies. To prevent their returning, their houses were 
burned, and their farms laid waste. In many cases 
families were separated in the confusion of embarking; 
and members of the same family were long lost to 
one another. Longfellow's poem of " Evangeline " is 
founded upon this sad event. 
Fort Du Meantime, in Virginia, war was beginning in earnest. 

^uesne. 

When Washington went west to remonstrate with the 
French officers, he selected a place which he thought 
would be very good for an English fort. It was just 
where Pittsburg now stands, at the point where the 
Alleghany and Monongahela unite to form the Ohio. 
The government sent an expedition, and began to build 
the fort. It was thought that as there were so many 
French forts in that region, there should be a few for 
the English also. But this was just what the French 
did not wish : so they drove the workmen away, finished 
the fort themselves, and called it Fort Du Quesne. 
Washington carried on war against the French and Indi- 
ans for a time, with the Virginia soldiers who had been 
placed under his command : but he was not quite 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 1 53 

strong enough to attack this important post ; and so 
a veteran English army was sent out under General 
Braddock ; and Washington went with him as one of 
his staff-officers. The English general knew nothing Braddock's 
about Indian warfare, and would take advice from no ^^^^^*- 
one. He marched slowly through the forests, building 
roads as he went, and spending several months on the 
way. As he drew near the fort, Washington urged him 
to place the American companies in front, for the 
purpose of clearing the woods of Indians. He ex- 
plained that these provincial soldiers were used to 
dealing with Indians , while the red-coats were accus- 
tomed only to regular warfare, and to fighting in the 
open field. Braddock refused to listen to the advice, 
but marched on in regular military order, with flags 
flying, music playing, and the men presenting a fine 
appearance. The army was within seven miles of the 
fort, when the advanced guard was attacked by Indians 
in a deep ravine, and was thrown into complete confu- 
sion. The Virginia riflemen fought from behind trees ; 
but the regular troops crowded together, and were shot 
down. The fight lasted three hours. It ended in a dis- Retreat of 
orderly retreat of the British troops, more than seven 
hundred of whom were killed out of twelve hundred. 
General Braddock showed great courage, but was at 
last mortally wounded ; and every one of his officers 
was killed or wounded, except Washington, who had 
two horses killed under him, and had four balls through 
his coat. Washington was almost prostrated by illness 
that day, but took an active part in the battle, and had 
the command after Braddock fell. An old Indian chief 
said afterwards, that he and his " young braves " had 



154 YOUNG folks' united states. 

fired very often at that tall young American, and had 
decided that he must bear a charmed life. 

Effect of Braddock's defeat took place July 9, 1755. It made 

e ea . ^^^ gj-eatcst cxcitemcnt throughout the colonies and in 
England; and its consequences were very important. 
The French were left in possession, for the time, of all 
the region west of the Alleghanies ; and the Indians 
began to despise the English, to reverence the French, 
and to make new attacks upon the colonists. All 
through the western parts of Virginia, especially, there 
were scenes of massacre and fire; and family after 
family had to flee for their lives. Washington, who 
was in command of the Virginia forces, wrote, that 
" the supplicating tears of women, and the moving 
petitions of the men, melted him with deadly sorrow." 
He had to meet swift and stealthy enemies, who came 
and went in the night, and were to be tracked only by 
the ruin they had left behind them. 

The Indians were told by their French allies that the 
time had come to drive the English forever from their 
settlements. But the colonists resisted desperately ; 
and, three years after, Washington himself was sent 
against Fort Du Quesne, and took it at last. It was 
this distinguished military career that fitted Washing- 
ton to take part in the war of the Revolution, which 
was fast approaching. Braddock's defeat had, more- 
over, taught the colonists that the red-coats were not 
invincible, but would run away as fast as anybody, if 
met by greater numbers or greater skill. 

Quebec^ °^ Scvcral Valuable forts were taken from the French 
during this war, such as Niagara, Ticonderoga, and 
Crown Point ; but the most important event was the 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 1 55 

famous expedition against Quebec. General Wolfe was 
sent from England to command this attack, and had 
eight thousand men with him ; for Quebec was one of 
the strongest fortresses in the world. He was at first 
repulsed at every point. At last he discovered a steep scaling thf 
and narrow path which led up to the Heights of Abra- 2^^,2,1^ °^ 
ham, above the city ; and he resolved to climb it with 
his men. So he sent Captain Cook (afterwards so 
famous as a navigator) to make a pretended attack in 
another place ; and Wolfe went with boats to the path 
he had discovered. As he was rowed along in his boat, 
he spoke to his officers of Gray's " Elegy in a Country 
Churchyard," and said that he would rather have writ- 
ten that poem than take Quebec. Then he repeated 
the lines : — 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth, e'er gave, 
Await alike the inevitable hour : 

The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

Then they landed, climbed the steep : and, in the morn- 
ing of Sept. 13, 1759, General Montcalm, the French 
commander, was amazed to see an army above him. If 
he had even then remained in his fortress, the English 
could not have taken it ; but he chose to come out and 
fight them on the open orround, and was defeated. The 

r^ ,. r- o 7 Death oi 

English were victorious : but General Wolfe died in the woife. 
hour of victory. Hearing the shouts, " They fly ; they 
fly ! " he asked, '' Who fly ? " Hearing it was the French, 
he said, " Now God be praised : I die happy." General 
Montcalm was also mortally wounded, and, when told 
of his condition, said, " So much the better. I shall 
not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 



156 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The treaty. Quebec was surrendered five days later; and a peace 
was made in 1763, by which France gave up Canada to 
England, with all her American possessions east of the 
Mississippi, except some fishing-stations near New- 
foundland. France had just before given up to Spain 
all her claims to the vast territory west of the Missis- 
continued sippi. It was supposed that all the Indian tribes 
the*^^^*^ °^ would at once submit to the English power, and would 
Indians. show the samc friendship that they had formerly shown 
to the French. But unfortunately the Indians were not 
willing to submit so easily ; and the flames of battle 
were to be rekindled once more before the great series 
of French and Indian wars ended, 
pontiac. There was an Indian chief named Pontiac, a man 

of great courage, skill, and influence. He had led the 
Ottawa tribe at the time of Braddock's defeat, and had 
seen the red-coats run away before his men. He 
believed that, if the Indian tribes could be united for 
one more effort, they might yet expel the English from 
the interior of the country, at least. The French 
inhabitants of Canada secretly encouraged these 
thoughts, and told the Indians that the King of 
France had been asleep for a time, and that the Eng- 
lish had therefore triumphed, but that he would soon 
wake up, and " drive the intruders from the country of 
his red children." Pontiac heard all this eagerly. " I 
am a Frenchman," he said, " and will die a French- 
man ! " He sent ambassadors through the country, 
each with a belt of wampum (red or black beads, sig- 
nifying war), and a tomahawk stained red. In each 
village the belt was accepted, the tomahawk taken up, 
and the chiefs agreed to join in the war. Afterwards a 



Pontiac ex- 
cites the 
Indians 
against the 

English. 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS. 15? 

council was held ; and they agreed to attack the fort of 
Detroit, under Pontiac's lead. 

This was Pontiac's plan : he would go some day to pian of at- 
the fort, with thirty or forty men, and ask leave to ce^tro^t^ 
come in and show an Indian dance. While they were 
dancing, a few should stroll about the fort, unnoticed, 
and observe everything within the walls. Then they 
would again visit the fort, ask to hold a council, carry 
weapons under their blankets, and at a given signal 
strike down the white officers. The first part of the 
plan succeeded ; but the second failed. A warning 
was given by some Indian women to the English com- 
mander ; and when Pontiac entered the fort with his 
fifty warriors, each carrying his gun under his blanket, 
they found ranks of armed soldiers drawn up within. 
They saw that their plan had failed, and were glad to 
be allowed to go out unharmed. 

After this, Pontiac collected his allies, and laid siege siege of 
to Detroit for many weeks in 1763. It was the longest °®*'^°'** 
siege ever conducted by Indians ; for they commonly 
relied on swift and sudden movements ; but it ^ailed at 
last, although several other forts were captured by Indi- 
ans during this siege. At Michillimackinac, for in- 
stance, on a holiday, several hundred unarmed Indians 
played a game of ball outside the fort, and invited 
the soldiers out to see them play, while their squaws 
stood wrapped in their blankets, watching the game. 
Suddenly the ball was struck so that it fell near the 
gate of the fort. The warriors pursued it ; but, on the 
way, each snatched one of the hatchets that had been 
concealed by the women beneath their blankets, then 
rushed into the fort, and began striking down the gar- 



158 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

rison. Scarcely twenty men escaped. Thus, in one 
way or another, ahnost every fort in the region of the 
lakes was retaken by the Indians from the English. 
Detroit, however, held out with great courage ; but the 
garrison had become almost exhausted by famine, when, 
at the approach of winter, the Indians gradually scat- 
siege tered, and gave up the siege after five months. Noth- 

' ing bu^ the remarkable power and energy of Pontiac 
could iiave carried it on so long. He was at last com- 
pelled to make peace with the English, and was after- 
wards murdered by another Indian m a drunken frolic. 
This was the end of the long series of French and In- 
dian wars ; and the English colonists were now to have 
a little rest, until the beginning of their own Revo- 
lution. 



I 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 

HAVE thus described the early history' of theThe"oid 
thirteen original colonies, — " the old thirteen," as 
they were often called. These were New Hampshire, 
Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, 
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. 
All the rest of the present States were made from 
these, or from territory added to these ; so that the 
history of the country down to the Revolution is the 
history of these thirteen colonies. 

It is easy to see that each of the thirteen had Peculiar 
something peculiar in its history to distinguish it each. ^ 
from the rest. To begin with, they were established 
by several different nations. Most of them, it is true, 
were founded by Englishmen ; but New York and 
New Jersey were settled by the Dutch, and Dela- 
ware by the Swedes ; while the Carolinas were first 
explored and named by a French colony. Most of 
them were founded by small parties of settlers, among 
whom no great distinctions of rank existed ; but two of 
them, Pennsylvania and Maryland, were founded by 
a single proprietor in each case, who owned the whole 
soil ; while New York had its " patroons," or large 



l6o YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

landholders with tenants under them. Most of them 
were founded by those who fled from religious persecu- 
tion in Europe ; yet one of them, Rhode Island, was 
made up largely from those persecuted in another col- 
ony ; and another, Maryland, was founded by Roman 
Catholics. Some had charter governments ; some had 
royal governments without charters ; and others were 
governed by the original proprietors, or those who rep- 
resented them. 
Points of But, however differently the thirteen colonies may 
biance. havc bccu foundcd or governed, they were all alike in 
some things. For instance, they all had something of 
local self-government ; that is, each community, to a 
greater or less extent, made and administered its own 
laws. Moreover, they all became subject to Great 
Britain at last, even if they had not been first settled by 
Englishmen ; and finally they all grew gradually dis- 
contented with the British Government, because they 
thought themselves ill treated. This discontent made 
them at last separate themselves from England, and 
form a complete union with one another. But this was 
not accomplished without a war, — the war commonly 
called the American Revolution. 
England!" When we think about the Revolutionary War, we are 
very apt to suppose that the colonies deliberately 
came together, and resolved to throw off the yoke of 
Great Britain. But this was not the case at all. When 
the troubles began, most of the people supposed them- 
selves to be very loyal ; and they were ready to shout 
" God save King George ! " Even after they had raised 
armies, and had begun to fight, the Continental Con- 
gress said, " We have not raised armies with the ambi 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. l6l 

lious design of separating from Great Britain, and 
establishing independent States." They would have 
been perfectly satisfied to go on as they were, if the 
British Government had only treated them in a manner 
they thought just; that is, if Great Britain either had 
not taxed them, or had let them send representatives to 
parliament in return for paying taxes. This wish was 
considered perfectly reasonable by many of the wisest 
Englishmen of that day; and these statesmen would 
have gladly consented to either of these measures. 
But King George III. and his advisers would not con- 
sent ; and so they not only lost the opportunity of 
taxing the American colonies, but finally lost the colo- 
nies themselves. 

There were some reasons why it seemed just that Reasons 
the Americans should be taxed. The debt of the uon^^°' 
British Government was very great, and part of this 
debt had been incurred in defending the American 
colonies from the French and Indians. So it seemed 
fair that these colonies should help to pay it ; and 
probably they would not have objected, if they had 
been represented in the British Government, so that 
they could at least have had a voice in deciding what 
their taxes should be. But this was not allowed ; and 
so, when the famous " Stamp Act " was passed, in 1765, 
the popular indignation was very great. 

There was nothing very bad about the law called the The 
" Stamp Act," in itself; and Englishmen would not have Act." 
complained of it at home. This famous act required 
only that all deeds and receipts, and other legal docu- 
ments, should be written or printed on stamped paper, 
and that this paper should be sold by the tax-collectors ; 



[62 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The prin- 
ciple in- 
volved. 



Speeches 
in parlia- 
ment. 



Speech of 
Col. Barr^. 



the money going to the government. It was such a iaw 
as has always existed in England ; and, indeed, taxes 
have since been imposed in a similar way in America. 
The colonists objected to it only because it involved a 
principle. No matter how trifling the tax might be, 
they objected to it. They said the British Government 
had no right to put this or any other tax upon them^ 
when they were not represented in the government. 
*' No taxation without representation " was a phrase 
constantly heard in the colonies in those days ; and the 
excitement about the Stamp Act was the real beginning 
of the Revolutionary War. 

Even in the British parliament, when the Stamp Act 
was being discussed, there were persons who had been 
in America, and who declared that the imposed law was 
very unjust. The member to whom the people of 
America felt most grateful was Colonel Barre, who had 
fought under General Wolfe at the taking of Quebec. 
Mr. Charles Townshend had one day said in a speech, 
" Will these Americans, children planted by our 
care, nourished by our indulgence, till they are grown 
up to strength and opulence, and protected by our 
arms, — will they grudge to contribute their mite to 
relieve us from the weight of that heavy burden under 
which we lie ? " 

" They planted by your care ? " replied Colonel Barre. 
"No, they were planted by your oppression. . . . 
They nourished by your indulgence ? They grew up 
by your neglect. . . . They protected by your arms? 
They have nobly taken up arms in your defence. . . . 
They are, I believe, as truly loyal as any subjects the 
king has. but a people jealous of their liberties, and 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 



163 



who will vindicate them, if ever they should be vio- 
lated." 

This bold speech by Colonel Barre made a great its effect, 
excitement. It was at once sent to America, in a let- 
ter, and was reprinted by all the newspapers. Every 
schoolboy learned to declaim it. Nevertheless, almost 
everybody in England supposed that the Stamp Act 




PATRICK HENRY MAKING HIS GREAT SPEECH. 



would go peacefully into effect ; and indeed it seemed 
doubtful, for a time, whether the colonies would not 
submit. The first sign of opposition was given in Vir- 
ginia. In the Virginia Assembly, in May, 1765, a Patrick 
young lawyer named Patrick Henry offered resolutions, 
declaring that no power but the General Assembly of 
the colony had the right to levy taxes upon it, and that 



Henry. 



164 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

to allow such power in any other body was to destroy 
all freedom. In his speech he said, " Caesar had his 
Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the 
Third" — "Treason!" cried the speaker of the As- 
sembly, interrupting him ; and the cry of " Treason ! " 
rang through the hall. Patrick Henry looked sternly 
round, and finished his sentence, — " may profit by their 
example. If that be treason, make the most of it." 
Then his resolutions were adopted by a small majority; 
all the younger members being with him. Thus Vir- 
ginia gave the signal of resistance for the colonies. 
The first This example was quickly followed. In Massachu- 

American 

Congress, sctts, James Otis proposed that an " American Con- 
gress " should be called, which should come together 
without asking the consent of the British Government. 
Others took up the plan, and proposed that American 
liberties should be left " to the watchfulness of a united 
continent." The Congress met in October, 1765 ; and 
though only nine of the thirteen colonies sent delegates, 
it did great good to their cause. This Congress drew 
up a "Declaration of Rights," and a petition to the 

The mer- kin^f. All ovcr the country the merchants agreed not 

chants and , -r^ . . , , , , . , 

the people, to buy British goods ; and men and women promised to 
wear homespun clothes, and go without all imported 
things, in order to show that they were not dependent 
on England. One patriotic woman, Mrs. Gushing, 
wrote to her friends, " I hope there are none of us but 
would sooner wrap ourselves in sheep and goat skins 
than buy English goods of a people who have insulted 
us in such a scandalous manner." 

Treatment Then there were still more violent proceedings. In 

of the . ^ ^ 

stamp offl- Boston, One morning, the people saw an effigy 01 

cers. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 165 

A.ndrew Oliver, the newly appointed agent for stamped stamp 
paper, hanging on a great elm, afterward called " Lib- hun^ in 
erty Tree." Chief Justice Hutchinson ordered the ®®^y- 
sheriff to take it down ; but the people said, " We will 
take it down ourselves at evening." In the evening a 
great crowd collected, took down the image, carried 
it through the streets, and burnt it before Andrew 
Oliver's door. Then they grew so excited that they 
tore down Oliver's house, and destroyed the contents 
of the house of Chief Justice Hutchinson. In Mary- 
land, also, a mob destroyed the house of the stamp- 
ofhcer. In Rhode Island they destroyed the houses of 
two men who had favored the Stamp Act, and they 
compelled the stamp-ofBcer to resign. In Connecticut 
nearly a thousand men set off on horseback, and 
hunted the stamp-ofBcer till they caught him, and made 
him promise to resign, and to fling up his hat, and 
cry, " Liberty and Property ! " three times. In New 
York the people burnt the governor in effigy, after 
dragging the image through the town in one of his own 
chariots. Similar things happened in other States ; so 
that nobody dared to act as stamp-officer, and the law 
was never enforced. The news went quickly to Eng- 
land ; and, while the king and his ministers were 
enraged, there were many in parliament to defend the 
cause of the Americans. The statesman, William Pitt, 
Earl of Chatham, said, " The gentleman tells us that 
America is obstinate ; America is almost in open re- 
bellion. I rejoice that America has resisted^ 

By the strong efforts of such men as Lord Chatham, Repeal of 
the Stamp Act was repealed in just a year from its Act. 
passage ; although another act was passed, declaring 



1 66 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Another 
act of tax- 
ation. 



Boston 
boysi 



that parliament had a perfect right " to bind the I 
colonies in all cases whatsoever." Then there was ! 
great rejoicing. In Boston the bells were rung, flags 1 
were displayed everywhere, and prisoners for debt were . 
released to share in the general joy. At night the ; 
houses were illuminated, and Liberty Tree was covered ' 
with lanterns till its boughs could hold no more. For 
some time nothing more was said about taxes. But, a 
year or two after this repeal, another act was passed, 
laying taxes on glass, paper, tea, and other articles. 
This roused new indignation ; and troops were stationed 
in New York and Boston in the hope to keep the peo- 
ple quiet. But the effect was just the other way. In 
New York the soldiers cut down the liberty-pole, 
which had been raised when the Stamp Act was re- 
pealed ; but the people put it up again, and yet again, 
the soldiers cutting it down each time. 

In Boston the troops made themselves still more un- 
popular. There was quite a quarrel between them and 
the boys ; for the soldiers used to destroy the snow-slides 
that the boys had prepared for their sleds. After ap- 
pealing in vain to the captain, the boys finally went to 
the British general, and complained. " What ! " he said, 
"have your fathers been teaching you rebellion, and 
sent you here to exhibit it ? " — " Nobody sent us, sir," 
said one of the boys. " We have never injured nor 
insulted your troops ; but they have been spoiling our 
snow-slides, so that we cannot use them any morCc 
We complained ; and they called us ' young rebels,' 
and told us to help ourselves if we could. We told 
the. captains of this ; and they laughed at us. Yes- 
terday our slides were destroyed once more ; and we 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 167 

mil bear it no longer. " The general ordered the dam- 
age to be repaired, and told Governor Gage, who said 
that it was impossible to beat the notion of liberty out 
of the people, as it was rooted in them from their child- 
hood. 

But the British troops in Boston had already got into Boston 
more serious trouble. The young men of the town 



massacre. 




THE BRITISH GENERAL AND THE BOSTON BOYS. 



used often to insult the red-coated soldiers, calling 
them " lobsters," " bloody-backs," and such names, and 
threatening to drive them from the town. On the 
other hand, the soldiers used to be allowed, by their 
officers, to stray about the town in the evening, car- 
rying their guns, and without any proper authority 
to control them. One moonlight evening (March 5, 



break. 



.68 YOUNG folks' united states. 

1770), some soldiers were going about in this way, and 
The out- got into a quarrel, as they often did. As they were 
taunting the people, and calling, " Where are they ? 
Where are the cowards ? " some boys began to snow- 
ball them, crying, " Down with them ! Drive them to 
their barracks ! " The noise increased, until the guard 
was called out, commanded by Captain Preston. He 




PEOPLE ATTACKING THE SOLDIERS IN BOSTON. 

came roughly through the crowd, with six or eight men, 
whom he drew up in line. Many of the people fell 
back : but about a dozen men, some of whom had 
sticks, advanced to meet the soldiers, and spoke angrily 
to them ; and some, it was said, struck at the muskets 
with sticks. The noise increased every moment, till 
at last Captain Preston gave the word, " Fire ! " When 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 169 

the smoke had cleared away, there were eleven men 
stretched upon the ground, of whom eight were 
wounded, and three killed. Among these last was 
Crispus Attucks, a mulatto, and the leader of the 
mob. This affair made an intense excitement; and 
Captain Preston was tried for murder. But some of 
the leading lawyers of Boston, who were also eminent 
patriots, defended him on the ground that he had 
done his duty as an officer ; and he was acquitted. 
The public indignation was, however, so great over the 
whole affair, that the two regiments of troops were soon 
removed to the barracks at Castle William, and were 
not allowed to stray about the streets. But this blood- 
shed never was forgotten ; and the " Boston Massacre " 
was another step towards the Revolutionary War. 

Very soon another step was taken, on the shores of Destruc- 
Narragansett Bay. An armed British schooner, the -'JJ'aspee" 
" Gaspee," had been stationed in that bay to look out 
for smugglers. The duty was discharged by the com- 
mander with needless severity ; and he and his vessel 
became very unpopular. It was believed that they 
went far beyond any authority the law gave them. 
One day (June 10, 1772), a packet-boat left Newport 
for Providence, without notifying Lieutenant Dudings- 
ton of the " Gaspee ; " and he pursued the packet more 
than twenty miles, and then ran hard aground on 
Namquit Point, about seven miles below Providence. 
The news soon spread through town that the hated 
vessel was aground near by, and that she must lie 
there until high tide, which would be early in the 
morning. Soon a drummer went through the streets, 
calling all men who would help destroy the '" Gaspee " 



170 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

to meet at a certain tavern after sunset. At half-past 
nine, eight large boats filled with men, whose oars 
were muffled, were seen gliding down the bay. They 
approached the " Gaspee " at midnight. It was very 
dark ; and the alarm was hardly given, when the 
Rhode Island men had boarded the schooner, over- 
powered the crew, and *-ied their hands. They were put 




DESTRUCTION OF THE " GASPEE 



on shore ; and the schooner was set on fire, and utterly 
destroyed. The boats went home in broad daylight. 
Almost every one in Providence knew what had hap- 
pened ; and yet, though a reward of a thousand 
pounds was offered to anybody who would give infor- 
mation against the offenders, no information was 
ever given, and nobody was ever brought to trial. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. I^! 

Meantime the news went through all the colonies that 
the " Gaspee " was destroyed ; that the British Govern- 
ment pronounced its destruction an act of high treason ; 
and yet, that, with all its power, it could not reach one 
of the offenders. Through all the colonies the excite- 
ment went on increasing ; and men felt more and more 
disposed to resist what they thought the unlawful acts 
of King George and his ministry. 

Meanwhile the people everywhere were learning to patriotism 
go without those articles on which taxes were laid, °l^^^ ^®°" 
They wore homespun clothes, instead of importing the 
goods. They also tried various experiments in making 
tea ; using raspberry-leaves for that purpose, and sage, 
and other plants, some of which still bear the names 
of " Jersey tea " and " Labrador tea." So strong was 
the popular feeling, that the British Government finally 
decided to abandon all the other taxes, but to insist on 
that laid upon tea. Some large shiploads of it were 
therefore sent, in hopes that the people would every- 
where be induced to pay the tax. " The king," said 
Lord North proudly, " means to try the question with 
America." But the people seemed determined to try 
the question with England also ; for they were re- 
solved that the tea should not be landed. In Boston, 
when the tea-ships had arrived, the " Committee of 
Correspondence " set a guard over them as they lay at 
the wharf; and people from all parts of the country 
promised to sustain the Bostonians, and implored 
them "to stand by the liberties of America." They 
hoped to get the tea sent peaceably back to London ; 
and, when this proved impossible, a meeting of seven 
thousand people, the largest ever held up to that time in 



172 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Boston 
" Tea 
Party" 




Boston, took place in Faneuil Hall, and then adjourned 

to the Old South 



Church in order 
to have more 
room. The own- 
er of one of the 
tea - ships was 
sent to the royal 
governor, Hutch- 
inson, to ask his 
leave to send the 
vessels back to 
England with 
FANEUIL HALL IN 1763. thclr cargocs; 

and, when he returned with the answer that the gov- 
ernor refused the request, Samuel Adams rose, and 
said, " This meeting 
can do nothing more 
to save the country." 
Then a war-whoop was 
heard at the porch : a 
body of forty or fifty 
men, disguised as In- 
dians, went by to the 
wharf, took possession 
of the three tea-ships, 
and threw three hun- 
dred and forty chests 
of tea into the water. 
Then they quietly dis- 
persed, and did no samuel adams. 
other mischief whatever. This was called " the Boston 
tea-party ; " and it took place Dec. i6, 1773. 




THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. T73 

New York and Philadelphia followed the example of The tea 
Boston ; but they did not have occasion to throw the tea other ° 
into the water, for the captains of the ships readily con- '^"^®^- 
sented to return to London immediately. In Charles- 
ton the tea was landed : but no one would take it for 
sale, or pay the duty ; and meanwhile it was stored in 
damp cellars, where it was spoiled. In Annapolis the 
tea was burned. All these things excited the people 
very much, and made the colonies more and more ready 
to unite in resisting England. The first Continental 
Congress had met before this, and there was soon to be 
another. Meanwhile in Massachusetts, which seemed in steos ta- 
greater danger of attack than any other State, there was Massachu- 
also a Provincial Congress created ; and under its direc- ^®"^" 
tion military stores were collected at various points. ^ 

There were also " minute-men " drilling under old sol- 
diers who had fought in the " French and Indian War." 
There were also organizations called " Sons of Lib- 
erty," in Massachusetts and several other colonies ; 
and in Rhode Island there were associations of women 
called " Daughters of Liberty." 

In the mean time King George and his ministers The Boston 

1 1 r 1 * • 1 Port-Bill. 

grew very angry at the conduct of the Americans, and 
especially of the people of Massachusetts. So they 
passed several severe laws, abolished the Boston town- 
meetings, placed troops in the town, and ordered that 
all persons accused of any offence should be taken 
elsewhere for trial. But the severest of these measures 
was the Boston Port Bill, of which one speaker in par- 
liament said that it ought to be called " A Bill to 
enslave America." This law closed the port of Bos- 
ton; that is, it forbade all vessels from going in or 



174 VOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

out, unless they brought wood or provisions. Any 
vessels bringing these things to Boston must sail first 
to Marblehead (then thirty miles from Boston by the 
high-road) ; must be entered at the custom-house, and 
take on board an officer, who would come to Bos- 
ton in the vessel. This cut off all the water-communi- 
cation of the country towns with Boston, unless it 
went round by way of Marblehead. Not a stick of 
wood could be brought in from any of the islands in the 
harbor; nor could a barrel of flour be brought in a 
row-boat from Cambridge ; nor could even a shingle 
or a brick be taken from one wharf to another in a 
skiff or a scow. As commerce was then the chief 
business of the Bostonians, this stopped a large part 
of the industry of the place. 
Effect of Of course, the sympathy of other towns, and even of 

the Boston , . • i o 

Port-Bill, the Other colonies, was at once excited. So a great 
variety of gifts began to be sent into the suffering 
town, — grain from Groton, and salt fish from Marble- 
head, and a flock of two hundred and fifty sheep from 
Windham, Conn. The southern colonies sent flour 
and rice ; and the middle colonies sent corn and iron ; 
and many towns sent money for the poor; so that the 
effect of the Boston Port Bill was entirely different 
from what the British Government expected. They 
thought that it would probably frighten the colonies, 
and make them fall apart. Instead of this, it made 
them unite more firmly, and take up the cause of 
Boston as their own. 

This was just what the wisest men in the British 
parliament, such as Edmund Burke and Charles James 
Fox, had predicted. They had warned the government 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 1/5 

that the American people would be driven into open 
rebellion by such measures. But King George was a 
very obstinate man, and used all his influence in par- 
liament to push such laws through. The result was as 
Burke and Fox had said. The Boston Port Bill helped 
to make the scattered colonies into a nation. The day 
when the law took effect (June i, 1774) was observed 
in Hartford, Conn., as a day of public mourning. The 
town-house was hung with black ; a copy of the bill 
was posted on it ; and the bells were tolled all day. 
Even so far off as Virginia, the legislature, or " House 
of Burgesses," attended a solemn religious service on 
the occasion, and heard a patriotic sermon from the 
chaplain. 

If we could have entered Boston during the summer Boston in 

1T74 

of 1774, we should have found ourselves on a peninsula 
much smaller than the present Boston, and protected 
by earthworks across the " Neck," where a guard was 
stationed. We should have seen the wharves almost 
deserted, and only British men-of-war lying in the 
harbor. We should have found the laborers of the 
town mainly idle, or at work on the street-pavements 
or the public brick-yards. We should have seen the 
poorer families fed by contributions sent from other 
towns or colonies. We should have observed cannon 
mounted on the heights, tents pitched on the Common, 
and companies of red-coated soldiers marching through 
the streets. We should have heard of private meetings 
of patriotic citizens, under the name of " clubs," almost 
every night. In these meetings, usually held in gar- 
rets and lofts, we should have seen plenty of tobacco- 
smoke, and people drinking punch or flip, perhaps, 



176 YOUNG folks' united states. 

after the fashion of those times, and discussing plans of 
resistance, and news from other parts of the country ; 
Discus- for in those days every man who had an important 
Congress, letter from any other colony, or from the Continental 
Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, would bring 
it to the meeting to read aloud. One would rise up, 
and say, "John Adams writes that there is a great 
spirit in the Congress, and that we must furnish our- 
selves with artillery and arms and ammunition, but 
avoid war, if possible, if possible ! " Another would 
say, " The great Virginia orator, Patrick Henry, on 
being told that Major Hawley of Northampton said, 
'We must fight,' answered, 'I am of that man's mind.'" 
Then another man would call out that he had been to 
see the British fortifications on the Neck, with some 
old soldiers who had fought at Louisburg, and that 
they had laughed at these earthworks, and said that 
" they would care for them no more than for a beaver- 
dam." Then we can imagine what shouts of laughter 
there would be in the old smoky room, and what cheers 
would be given for Patrick Henry and John Adams and 
the old Louisburg soldiers. 
Tories. Thcu wc must rcmcmbcr that there were other men, 

and often good men, too, who felt very sad about all 
this, and who thought that it was very wrong to resist 
King George, and that it would ruin the colonies even 
to attempt such a thing ; and who tried, with tears in 
their eyes, to persuade the patriots to listen to reason. 
These were generally the rich and prosperous men, and 
those who held offices under the British Government ; 
in short, the people who had most to lose by war in 
any case. These men were called Tories in those 



THE BEGINNING OF THE REVOLUTION. 1/7 

days, and grew more and more unpopular. Some of 
them afterwards changed their opinions and became 
patriots : others left the United Colonies and went to 
those British Provinces which had refused to take part 
in the Revolution, especially to Nova Scotia. Some 
finally fought against their country in the royal armies. 
But for a time they only discouraged the revolutionists 
by pointing out all the evils that would follow their 
"mad attempt," as they called it. The Tories said, 
and with truth, that King George would not change his 
policy, and that more and more troops would be sent 
from England. They pointed out that these would be 
trained troops, and that the colonies had only raw 
militiamen to put against them. 

To this the colonists answered, that there were now confidence 
two million Americans, perhaps three millions, and p^J^ots. 
that one-fifth were fighting-men. They said that many 
of these were trained in Indian warfare, and some had 
helped take Louisburg and Quebec. Moreover, in 
Braddock's expedition, they had seen the red-coats run 
for their lives before the French and Indians, when the 
Virginia riflemen stood their ground ; each man taking 
to a tree, and exchanging shot for shot. As for officers, 
did King George suppose that General Putnam, who 
had been tied to a tree by Indians, and had seen the 
fire blaze up around him, without flinching, was likely to 
flinch before English muskets ? Had not young Colonel 
Washington saved Braddock's army from total destruc- 
tion, and afterwards taken Fort Du Quesne, which 
Braddock could not take ? This is the way the patriots 
talked in those days ; perhaps ending with the words 
of the brave Dr. Warren, " The contest may be severe : 
the end will be glorious." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

CONCORD, LEXINGTON, AND BUNKER HILL. 

Provincial Xj^ the midst of all this excitement, General Gage, the 
X royal governor, called the legislature of Massachu- 
setts together, and then, changing his mind, dissolved 
it, before it had met, by a proclamation dated Sept. 28, 
1774. Upon this, all the members elected to the legis- 
lature came together, by agreement, without asking his 
leave, and organized themselves as a Provincial Con- 
gress. They at once began to get the militia into good 
working-order; and a quarter of the militiamen were 
called " minute-men," and were bound to assemble at 
the very shortest notice. Then the Provincial Congress 
saw to the collecting of arms and ammunition, and 
stored these at Concord and Worcester; and, in short, 
the governor found himself in more trouble than if he 
Watchful- had allowed the legislature to meet. Meanwhile Brit- 
wron°3t3.^ ish troops kept arriving in Boston ; and General Gage 
kept sending out spies in disguise, to find where the 
military stores of the patriots were deposited ; and they, 
in turn watched him. By and by he sent a body of 
soldiers to Salem (Feb. 26, 1775) to seize such stores, 
but so many minute-men gathered at once for resist- 
ance that the troops retreated. The patriots kept close 
watch at Charlestown, agreeing that if any large 

178 



CONCORD, LEXINGTON, AND BUNKER HILL. 1/9 

force of troops were ordered out by night in Boston, 
a lantern should be hung from the North Church. 

One night the watchers on the Charlestown side of Paui 
Charles River saw the lantern gleaming in the steeple. 
Instantly all were in motion ; and messengers went rid- 
ing in all directions. Other messengers had meanwhile 
been sent across in boats from Boston ; and one of 
these, named Paul Revere, mounted a horse immediately 
after landing, and galloped out through Medford, to a 
house where the patriotic leaders, John Hancock and 
Samuel Adams, were sleeping. 

" Do not make so much noise," said the soldier on 
guard before the house. 

" Noise ! " said Paul Revere. " You '11 have noise 
enough before long. The regulars are coming out." 
So he galloped on from house to house, awakening all 
the principal farmers ; and we may well suppose that 
there was no more sleep in any house that night after 
Paul Revere had passed by. 

Meantime some eight hundred British soldiers, em- Battle of 
barking in boats at the foot of Boston Common, crossed ®^^°^*°° 
to what is now East Cambridge. They marched 
silently along the marshes ; when suddenly the bells of 
the country towns began to ring, and it was plain that 
the alarm had been given. Paul Revere and the other 
scouts had done their work well. The commanding 
officer of the British then sent back for more troops ; 
and Major Pitcairn was sent forward with two or three 
hundred infantry, having orders to secure the two 
bridges at Concord. But when Pitcairn passed through 
Lexington, at four in the morning, April 19, 1775, he 
found sixty or seventy militia collected on the green, 
commanded by Capt. John Parker. 



l80 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

" Ye villains, ye rebels, disperse ! " cried the English 
officer. " Why don't ye lay down your arms ? " 

Then the British soldiers fired ; and the Americans 
fired in return, but did little damage. Eight of the 
Americans were killed and ten wounded ; and this was 
the first blood shed in the Revolutionary War. 
The Con- After this the British, or " regulars," marched on to- 
^^ ^ ' wards Concord, giving three huzzas. By this time the 
main body had come up, and joined them. While this 
went on, the Concord people were removing their mili- 
tary stores to the woods for safety. Then the minute- 
men, who had been hurrying towards Concord, — to 
the number of about four hundred and fifty in all, — 
took up a position on the high ground near what is 
called the " North Bridge," which is just out of the vil- 
lage. They could see the British soldiers moving about 
the streets, destroying military stores and provisions, 
cutting down the liberty-pole, and setting the court- 
house on fire. Then the officers of the minute-men 
decided to march down to the bridge, and at least drive 
away the British soldiers who were stationed there. 
Capt. Isaac Davis of Acton said proudly, '' I have n't a 
man that is afraid to go ; " and he and his company 
marched at the head. 

When they reached the bridge, the British soldiers 
fired ; and Davis fell dead. Then Major Buttrick 
called, " Fire ! for God's sake, fire ! " Then the Ameri- 
cans fired ; and the regulars retreated in great disorder, 
one man being killed, and several wounded. But the 
Americans knew that they were too few to attack the 
main body, until it should have set out on its return. 

When the British troops had destroyed all the mill- 



CONCORD, LEXINGTON, AND BUNKER HILL. 



i8i 



n^] of the 

^ hey British. 



tary stores they could find at Concord, they prepared The retreat 
to return, carrying with them their wounded, 
were now sixteen miles from Boston, and they were not 
to go back as easily as they came. The guns and bells 
had roused the whole country round ; and men came 
hurrying from all directions, commonly in their shirt- 
sleeves, without order or discipline, but with guns in 




RETREAT OF THE BRITISH FROM CONCORD. 

their hands ; and every man was ready to shelter himself 
behind a stone wall or a tree. A British officer wrote 
afterwards, that it seemed as if men had dropped from 
the clouds. Sometimes there were companies of minute- 
men, and at other times only single farmers. Every 
mile that the tired English soldiers marched from Con- 
cord to Lexington, they had more and more opponents, 



1 82 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

who kept firing from behind walls and trees ; so that 
men were constantly falling, wounded or killed. At 

The retreat, last the British soldiers fairly ran. There was great 
confusion. Their ammunition was almost gone ; and 
they would have had to surrender, had not Lord Percy 
marched out to meet them with reinforcements, and 
formed his troops into a hollow square at Lexington. 
Into this square the tired fugitives ran, and were safe 
at last. 

''They had to lie down for rest on the ground," an 
English historian says, " their tongues hanging out of 
their mouths, like dogs after a chase." 

Lord Percy had now eighteen hundred men under 
him, and he retreated more slowly for the rest of the 
way ; but he was pursued to Boston by greater and 
greater numbers, and was constantly fired upon ; and 
his troops were glad, at sunset, to get under protection 
of the guns of the men-of-war. The British had suf- 
fered nearly three times as much, in " killed, wounded, 
and missing," as the Americans. 

The effect Great was the excitement produced throusfhout all 

of the re- . ^ ^ 

treat. the colonics, and great was the wonder in England, 

over this astonishing retreat of regular ofiicers before 
provincials. The American farmers, the English said, 
had been called "too cowardly to face the regulars;'' 
and yet the affair had turned out a flight of the Eng- 
lish ; and " Lord Percy's activity was in running away." 
This was very unjust to Lord Percy, who was a brave 
officer; but it shows the feeling that existed in Eng- 
land. And in America, this day was the real begin- 
ning of the Revolution. Samuel Adams, when he heard 
the guns at Lexington, exclaimed, " Oh, what a glorious 



CONCORD, LEXINGTON, AND BUNKER HILL. 1 83 

morning is this ! " for he knew that the contest would 
end in the freedom of the colonies. President Jeffer- 
son said afterwards, "Before the 19th of April, 1775, ^ 
never had heard a whisper of a disposition to separate 
from Great Britain." 

Soon after this (May 10, 1775), Ethan Allen, with a few capture d 
men, captured Fort Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, 1^°^'^^'^' 
"in the name of the great Jehovah and the Continental 
Congress," as he said. Meanwhile the Massachusetts 
Committee of Safety sent out appeals for troops, and 
fifteen thousand men were soon collected. General The gath- 
Ward commanded those from Massachusetts ; General the"troopa 
Stark, those from New Hampshire ; General Greene, 
those from Rhode Island ; and Generals Spencer and 
Putnam, those from Connecticut. The army was not at 
all disciplined ; it had few cannon, and little ammuni- 
tion ; the men came and went very much as they wished. 
But they were strong enough to keep the British army of 
five thousand shut up in Boston ; and General Gage sent 
most of the families of the patriotic party out of town ; 
so that there was very little intercourse between those 
within and those without. 

It was found that there were two ranges of hills that The forti- 
commanded Boston on two sides, — Dorchester Heights B^er 
on the south, and Bunker Hill and Breed's Hill on the ^^^^• 
north-west. It was of importance to both sides to get 
the control of these hills ; and the Americans had rea- 
son to know that General Gage was planning to extend 
his lines, and include Bunker Hill. So a force of a 
thousand men was sent, one night, under command of 
Colonel Prescott, to erect some earthworks for its pro- 
tection. His men were mostly farmers : they had no 



1 84 YOUNG folks' united states. 

uniforms, and carried fowling-pieces without bayonets. 
They formed on Cambridge Common, and, after a 
prayer by the president of Harvard College, marched 
at 9, P.M., June i6, 1775. They marched so silently that 
they were not heard ; and the bells of Boston had 
struck twelve before they turned a sod. It was finally 
decided to fortify Breed's Hill, as being nearer to Bos- 
ton, instead of Bunker Hill. The work was soon be- 
gun. As they worked, they could hear the sentinels 
from the British men-of-war cry, " All 's well ! " As day 
dawned, the newly-made earthworks were seen from the 
ships, which began to fire on them, as did a battery in 
Boston. But the Americans went on completing their 
fortifications. General Gage with his telescope watched 
Colonel Prescott as he moved about the works. " Will, 
he fight ? " asked he. " To the last drop of his blood," 
said an American loyalist who stood near. Soon the 
British general made up his mind to lose no time, but 
to attack the works that day. 
prepara- It was uow the 17th of Tuoe. The day was intensely 

tion for the 1 j j j 

attack. hot. Three thousand British soldiers were embarked 
in boats, and sent across to Charlestown ; and more 
followed. Prescott placed his men behind the half-fin- 
ished mounds ; and a detachment was stationed at a 
rail fence, on the edge of Bunker Hill, to keep the 
British troops from flanking the redoubt. This rail 
fence was afterwards filled in with new-mown hay, to 
screen better those behind it. Without food, without 
water, and with very little ammunition, the Americans 
awaited their opponents. There were from two tc 
three thousand behind the breastworks, and four thou 
sand British to attack them ; and the Americans were 



CONCORD, LEXINGtON, AND BUNKER HILL. 185 

almost without drill or discipline, while the British 
troops were veteran regiments. On the other hand, 
the British were obliged to advance in open field, while 
the Americans were behind their earthworks, — a far 
safer position. There they waited as quietly as they 
could, while Putnam, Prescott, and others moved about 
among them, saying, ''Aim low." "Wait till you can 
see the whites of their eyes." 

The British soldiers marched forward slowly ; for they The Battle, 
were oppressed with the heat, and were burdened with 
their knapsacks of provisions. But they marched with 
great regularity and entire confidence. They fired as 
they went ; but only a few scattering shots were fired in 
return. On, on, they came, till they were within some 
ten rods of the redoubt. Then the word, " Fire ! " was 
given ; and, when the smoke cleared away, the ground 
was strewed with the British soldiers, and the survivors 
had already begun to retreat. A great cheer went up 
from the forts ; and the shout was echoed from the rail 
fence. The Americans behind the fence were next 
attacked by the right wing of the British. The Ameri- 
cans withheld their fire till the last moment ; and three- 
fourths of the advancing soldiers fell, and the rest 
faltered. Twice the British advanced, and twice they 
were driven backwards ; while very few of the Ameri- 
cans were hurt. Then a third attack was made upon 
the main fort. The British officers were seen threaten- 
ing the soldiers, and even striking and pricking them, 
to make them advance ; but they were very unwilling. 
Putnam passed round the ranks, telling his men, that, 
if the British were once more driven back, they could 
not rally again ; and his men shouted, " We are ready 



f86 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



for the red-coats again.*' But Putnam knew that the'u 
powder was ahnost gone, and told them to reserve theh 
lire till the British were within twenty yards. Once more 
they awaited the assailants, who now advanced with 
fixed bayonets, without firing, and under the protection 
of batteries of artillery. Most of the Americans had 
but one round of ammunition left, and few had more 




DEATH OF GENERAL WARREN. 



Death of 

General 

Warren. 



than three. Scarcely any had bayonets. Their last 
shots were soon fired ; and there was nothing for tliem 
but to retreat as they best could. They fell back 
slowly, one by one, losing far more men in the retreat 
than in the battle. Among their losses was the brave 
General Warren, eminent as a physician and as a 
patriot. He was president of the Provincial Congress* 



CONCORD, LEXINGTON, AND BUNKER HILL. 187 

and was there only as a volunteer, not in command. Howe's es- 
The British general, Howe, on hearing of his death, ^J^rren° 
said that it was equal to the loss of five hundred men 
to the Americans. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND. 

Effect of I- I ^HE battle of Bunker Hill was of the greatest 

the battle I ° 

of Bunker -■- importance to the colonies. First, it settled the 

Hill 

question that there was to be a war, which many people 
had not before believed. Secondly, it showed that 
inexperienced American soldiers could resist regular 
troops. It is said that when Washington heard of it, he 
only asked, " Did the militia stand fire ? " And when 
he was told that they did, and that they reserved their 
own till their opponents were within eight rods, he said, 
"The liberties of the country are safe." The battle 
was not claimed as a victory by the Americans ; and yet 
it roused their enthusiasm very much. The ranks of the 
Continental army were filled up, and the troops were in 
high spirits. On the other hand, the greatest surprise 
was felt in England at the courage shown by the 
Americans in this contest, and the great number of 
The severe kiHgd and woundcd amonpf the British troops. By the 

loss of the ^ ... 

British. officlal accouuts, thc British loss in killed and wounded 
was more than a thousand (1,054), including an unusu- 
ally large proportion of officers ; being one in four of the 
whole force engaged. The Americans lost less than 
half as many, — not more than four hundred and fifty. 
People in England complained that none of their regi- 
188 



WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND. 1 89 

ments had ever returned so diminished in numbers from 
any battle. One came back, for instance, with only 
twenty-five men. And it was said that " no history 
could produce a parallel " to the courage shown by the 
British in advancing beneath such a murderous fire. 
'' So large a proportion of a detachment," it was said, 
" was never killed or wounded in Germany," where the 
British armies had lately been engaged. 

Even before the battle of Bunker Hill, the Continen- choic© of a 
tal Congress had voted to adopt the army besieging er-hi™cwef. 
Boston, as the national army, and to raise additional 
troops in other States. At the recommendation of the 
New England delegates, George Washington was unani- 
mously chosen general-in-chief, with four major-gene- 
rals, — Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, 
and Israel Putnam. It was thought best that the 
general-in-chief should not be from New England, 
because it was wished that all the colonies should join 
in the war ; and, besides, there was no man in Amer- 
ica who could claim to equal Washington in military 
reputation. So he came on from Virginia, arriving July washing. 
2, 1775, and the next day stood under the great elm in command 
Cambridge (still known as the Washington Elm) to take °l^^^ 
command of the Continental army. No doubt there 
was great curiosity to see this famous officer ; and we 
can imagine with what eagerness the soldiers looked at 
him. When they looked, they saw a man forty-three 
years old, more than six feet tall, broad and vigorous, 
with large hands and feet, rather clumsy in his move- 
ments, yet with great dignity of bearing, and with a 
noble and commanding countenance at all times. He 
was dressed in a blue coat with buff facings, buff small 



IQO 



Condition 
of the 
Continen- 
tal army. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

clothes, an epaulet on each shoulder, and a black cock- 
ade in his hat. 

And when Washington looked, in turn, ujDon his army, 
he saw, to use his own words, " a mixed multitude 
of people, under very little discipline, order, or govern- 
ment." They were armed with fowling-pieces or mus- 
kets, hardly any two of which were of the same calibre. 




WASHINGTON TAKING COMMAND OF THE ARMY AT CAMBRIDGE. 



Few of the regiments had any uniform : they were 
collections of men in their old coats or their shirt- 
sleeves, and many of them wearing leather small- 
clothes. Those who came from a distance had usually 
some similarity of dress, to distinguish them on the 
march ; and many of the riflemen who soon arrived 
from Virginia wore hunting-shirts of brown Holland, 



WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND. I9I 

"double caped over the shoulder, in imitation of the 
Indians;" and having embroidered on the breast, in 
capital letters, " Liberty, or death." But, in general, the 
aspect of the Revolutionary army was not at all that of 
disciplined soldiers. And when General Washington 
went round among the camps and forts, which spread 
from Cambridge to Charlestown, he found anything but 
military regularity and neatness. Some of the troops, 
especially those from Rhode Island, had regular lines 
of tents ; while others lived in little huts, made of 
boards, or stones, or turf, put in any place where shelter 
could be found, and sometimes protected at the doors 
and windows by basket-work. The food was rough scarcity oi 

povFder. 

and often scanty ; and, worst of all, there was a great 
scarcity of powder. At first there were only seven 
cartridges to a man. Washington wrote to Congress, 
" Our situation in the article of powder is much more 
alarming than I had the faintest idea of." Another 
officer wrote, " The word ' powder ' in a letter sets us all 
on tiptoe." Another wrote, speaking of General Put- 
nam, " The bay is open : everything thaws here, ex- 
cept old Put. He is still as hard as ever crying out for 
' powder, powder ! Ye Gods, give us powder ! ' " 

By degrees, the army was supplied with many neces- 
sary equipments from the store-ships taken as prizes by 
the Americans, who sent out privateers, and who, after re- 
taking Castle William, put up a British flag there to decoy 
in the English vessels. But powder was always scarce ; 
and this was the chief reason why General Washington 
had to be content for many months with keeping the 
British army besieged in Boston, without trying to take 
the city. Meanwhile the British troops in Boston be- 



192 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

British gan to suffcr from small-pox and also for want of food 
Bostoi.^*^ ai^d fuel. They had to pull down old houses to burn, 
and had to send hundreds of the inhabitants out of the 
town, because they could not be fed. Some of the 
churches were turned into barracks ; and the " Old 
South," into a riding-school ; and Faneuil Hall, into a 
theatre. Sometimes the British used to send out play- 
bills to Washington and his generals. Once, in this 
theatre, the British officers were acting a play called 
" The Blockade of Boston," in which a figure intended 
to burlesque Washington was just coming in, wearing 
a large wig and a long rusty sword, and attended by a 
countryman with a rusty gun. Suddenly a sergeant 
appeared on the stage, and cried, " The Yankees are 
attacking our works on Bunker Hill ! " At first this 
"w^as taken for a part of the play ; but when General 
Howe rose, and called out, " Officers, to your posts ! " 
the people dispersed hastily, amid the shrieking and 
fainting of women. The attack at Charlestown, thus 
announced, did not amount to much ; but General 
Washington at last succeeded in erecting a battery at 
Dorchester Heights, which so effectually assailed the 
Evacuation British, that General Howe finally embarked his army. 

of Boston. 1 . 1 -r. c 

and quitted Boston forever, March 17, 1776. Nearly 
twelve hundred American loyalists went with the fleet to 
Halifax ; and most of these never returned. 
Determin- But, bccausc the British army evacuated Boston, we 

ation of the , ^ , , . , 

British iTiust not suppose that they meant to give up the con- 
govern- ^gg^-^ ^f^^j. ^j^g Biitish Govcmment heard of the b-attle 

ment. 

of Bunker Hill, it was resolved to subdue the Ameri- 
can colonies, no matter at what cost. All trade and 
intercourse with the colonies were prohibited ; and 



WASHINGTON TAKES COMMAND. I93 

their property on the ocean might be seized by any one. 
Sixteen thousand Hessians (or Germans) were em- 
ployed in the British army ; and the whole force des- 
tined for America amounted to fifty thousand men. 
Against this, the whole American army included as yet steengthof 

the Ameri- 

but some twelve thousand. Yet the only effect of all can Army, 
this was to make the Americans feel- that they had gone 
too far to retreat, and must persevere. 



of Con- 
gress. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

^^«work Al^T'E must remember that the most important re« 
V V sponsibilities of the Revolution were not taken 
by the farmers who fought at Lexington or Bunker 
Hill, but by the Continental Congress at Philadelphia. 
For, even after one or two fights, the Americans might 
have drawn back, and made peace again , but after 
the Congress had solemnly declared that the " United 
Colonies are and of right ought to be free and inde- 
pendent States," there was no going back, and they 
must take the consequences. Moreover, the soldiers 
had only to fight ; but the Congress had to take all the 
difficult work of raising soldiers, appointing officers, 
collecting and expending money, and negotiating with 
foreign governments to get, if possible, their aid. It 
looked like a very desperate undertaking. 

To be sure, when the patriots in Congress looked 
concerning back upou the fcvv battlcs that had yet taken place, 
dence. they could feel that the Americans had begun well. 
Dr. Franklin, who was always cheerful and hopeful, de- 
scribed their situation in this way, in a letter to a friend 
in England : " Britain, at the expense of three millions, 
has killed a hundred and fifty Yankees in this cam- 
paign, which is twenty thousand pounds a head ; and 
194 



Ideas of 
the people 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. I95 

at Bunker Hill she gained a mile of ground, half of 
which she lost again by our taking post on Ploughed 
Hill. During the same time, sixty thousand children 
have been born in America. From these data, Dr. 
Price's mathematical head will easily calculate the 
time and expense necessary to kill us all, and conquer 
our whole territory." This remark was printed in all 
the American papers, and was very encouraging. But 
Dr. Franklin and all the wise men knew in their hearts 
that the Americans were unaccustomed to military dis- 
cipline, that there was great jealousy between the dif- 
ferent colonies, and that many of the richest and most 
influential men were entirely opposed to separating from 
the mother-country. Washington himself said, " When 
I first took command of the army, I abhorred the idea 
of independence ; but I am fully convinced that nothing 
else will save us." That was the feeling with which the 
Continental Congress came together to consider whether 
independence should be declared. And the people at 
large were becoming gradually prepared to support such 
a declaration, especiaUy those who had read a book 
called " Common Sense," by Thomas Paine, which had 
been circulated very widely through the country, and 
undoubtedly did more than any other book toward con- 
vincing the Americans that the time for separation had 
come. 

The leading colony at that time was Virginia ; while The res- 
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania came next in order. 
So it was thought best that the first proposal of inde- 
pendence should come from Virginia, and that it should 
be seconded from Massachusetts. On the 7th of June, 
1776, Richard Henry Lee, of Virginia, moved these 
resolutions : — 



196 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

" That these united colonies are, and of right ought 
to be, free and independent States ; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British crown ; and 
that all political connection between them and the State 
of Great Britain is and ought to be totally dissolved. 

" That it is expedient forthwith to take the most 
effectual measures for forming foreign alliances. 

"That a plan of confederation be prepared, and 
transmitted to the respective colonies for their con- 
sideration and approbation." 

cnanimity They wcrc sccondcd by John Adams of Massachu- 

of feeling 

among the sctts. The first discussion of them showed that, though 



colonies. 



the members generally were in favor of independence, 
yet there were some who thought the nation not ready 
for it. So it was decided to postpone further dis- 
cussion to the ist of July. By that time, it was 
thought, the people of the colonies would show whether 
they were ready for independence or not. And this 
was just what happened. Before the end of that month, 
the people of every colony but one had either held 
meetings, and voted that they wished for independence, 
or else had instructed their delegates to vote for it ; and, 
when the subject came up on the appointed day. New 
York was the only colony that did not vote to declare 
independence ; and even New York did not vote against 
it. 
The Dec- During this time of delay, a committee had been 
indepen- appointed to draw up a declaration of independence 
dence. ^^ |^g w^^A^ if ncccssary. This committee consisted of 
Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, John Adams of Massa- 
chusetts, Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania, Roger 
Sherman of Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, I97 

New York. The Declaration was written by Thomas 
Jefferson ; though a very few verbal changes were made 
by Adams and Franklin, which may still be seen, in 
their handwriting, on the original document. There 
was a long discussion in the Congress ; and the Decla- 
ration was debated and criticised, word by word, and 
sometimes very severely attacked. During this attack, 
John Adams was its chief defender; while Jefferson, 
who had written it, did not say a word. He says in his 
journal, " During the debate I was sitting by Dr. Frank- 
lin, who observed that I was writhing a little under the 
acrimonious criticism of some of its parts ; and it was 
on that occasion, that, by way of comfort, he told me the 
story of John Thompson the hatter, and his new sign." 
This was a story — told, also, by Dr. Franklin in his Auto- 
biography — in regard to a man who was about opening 
a shop for hats, and who proposed to have a sign-board 
with a hat painted on it, and the inscription, "John 
Thompson, hatter, makes and sells hats." But almost 
every word of this inscription met with objection from 
somebody, as being unnecessary ; and at last it was 
reduced to " John Thompson," with the figure of a hat. 
It was thus that Franklin amused Jefferson during the 
anxious hours when this most important measure was 
under discussion. 

The Declaration of Independence was adopted July signing the 

^ , 1 • .1 .1 / Decla- 

4, 1776, though It was not signed until some weeks ration, 
later. When the members of Congress came up to 
sign, Dr. Franklin was still ready with his cheerful wit. 
John Hancock, who headed it, said to the others, " We 
must be unanimous : there must be no pulling different 
ways : we must all hang together." — " Yes," said Frank- 
lin, " we must all hang together, or else we shall all hang 



198 



The Declar- 
ation 
adopted. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

separately." We can imagine how they all may have 
laughed at this. But it was really a dangerous respon- 
sibility that they were taking ; and no doubt there were 
some anxious hearts even among those who laughed. 

But at last the great Declaration was adopted, with- 
out being much altered. The principal change was 
in striking out a passage which condemned the king 
of England, more severely than some of the Southern 
members approved, for his support of the slave-trade. 




OLD STATE HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA. 



In its final form it was adopted by twelve colonies; 
Rejoicings. Ncw York Still declining to vote. It had been privately 
resolved that, when it was passed, the bell of the 
old State House should be rung. This was a bell 
which had been put up some twenty years before, and 
which bore the inscription, " Proclaim liberty through- 
out the land to all the inhabitants thereof." So the 
old bell-ringer placed his little boy at the hall-door to 
await the signal of the door-keeper ; and, when inde- 
pendence was declared at last, the door-keeper gave 



THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 1 99 

the signal, and the boy ran out, exclaiming, "Ring, 
ring, ring ! " Then the bell rang out joyfully, proclaim- 
ing liberty to all the land. There were rejoicings every- 
where ; and the Declaration was read to each brigade in 
the army. This is the way the " Pennsylvania Journal " 
described the excitement : — 

"This afternoon (July 10) the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was read at the head of each brigade of the 
Continental Army posted at and in the vicinity of New 
York. It was received everywhere with loud huzzas, 
and the utmost demonstrations of joy ; and to-night the 
equestrian statue of George III., which Tory pride and 
folly raised in the year 1770, has, by the Sons of Free- 
dom, been laid prostrate in the dirt, — the just desert 
of an ungrateful tyrant." 

This was the courageous feeling with which the Dec- Tue bold- 

. . ness of the 

laration of Independence was received. Yet at this step, 
very time the enterprise seemed so daring, and the con- 
dition of the American army was so poor, that Adjutant- 
General Reed, who, from his position, knew the state 
of military affairs better than any one else, had written 
thus a few days before : — " Every man, from the general 
to the private, acquainted with our true situation, is 
exceedingly discouraged. Had I known the true posi- 
tion of affairs, no consideration would have tempted me 
to take an active part in this scene." 

After the Declaration of Independence had been The na- 

'^ tional flag 

adopted, it was thought to be time that the " United 
States " should have a flag of its own, as being an in- 
dependent nation. At the opening of the war a variety 
of flags had been used. That carried by the first war- 
vesselr commissioned by Washington was called " the 



200 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Adoption 
of a nat- 
ional flag. 




pine-tree flag," and originated with the Massachusetts 
Colony. It had a white ground, a tree in the middle, 
and the motto, "Appeal to Heaven," 
This is the way the English papers 
describe the flag taken from a colonial 
vessel in 1776 ; and a map of Boston 
was published in Paris that same* 
year, which represented this flag. The 
American troops still sometimes used 
the British flag, considering themselves 
still a part of the British nation. While 
Washington was in command at Cam- 
bridge, he unfurled before the army a 
new flag, which had thirteen stripes of 
red and white, as now, but had upon its 
corner the red and white cross which 
then marked the British flag. This 
was the flag carried by the Ameri- 
can troops into Boston when the 
royal troops marched out ; but 
Congress voted, June 17, 1777, 
"that the flag of the thirteen 
United States be thirteen stripes, 

alternate red and white, and 
the union be thirteen white 
stars in the blue field. 

The first person to hoist 
this new flag over an Ameri- 
can ship-of-war was Capt. 
Paul Jones, afterwards fa- 
mous in fight. It is said that the flag was first made 
and given to him by some patriotic ladies in Philadel- 





THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 201 

phia, and that he procured a small boat, and sailed 
Lip and down the Schuylkill River, with the colors 
unfurled, to show the assembled people what their 
national ensign was to be. This is the flag that now The "old 
waves over every United States vessel, or camp, or ^^' 
building, except that, for every State added to the 
Union, a new star has been placed on the Hag ; while 
the thirteen stripes still remind us of the "old thir- 
teen " colonies that won their independence. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR. 

Capture of T TP to the time of the Declaration of Independence, 
byThl""^^ ^ almost the whole fighting had been about Boston, 
British. although the British had made an unsuccessful attack 
on Charleston, S.C., and the Americans had tried, 
with equal ill-success, to overrun Canada, and take 
Quebec. But Washington foresaw that an attempt 
would be soon made by the royal generals to occupy 
New York : so he sent General Lee from Cambridge 
to defend it ; and he himself soon followed, after the 
evacuation of Boston. Sir William Howe also took 
thither the British soldiers who had been withdrawn 
from Boston ; and his brother. Admiral Lord Howe, 
went thither with re-enforcements to meet him ; and 
General Clinton came from the South with additional 
troops. So there were some twenty-four thousand 
British and Hessian troops to be met, and only about 
half that number of Americans yet enlisted. 
Lord Howe Lord Howc had orders from Kins: Georo^e to offer 

offers ° ° 

terms of tcrms of pcacc ; but he did not know exactly to whom 
peace, ^^ offcr them. First he wrote a letter to the royal gov- 
ernors : but there were no royal governors left ; and the 
letter came into Washington's hands, and proved to 
contain nothing satisfactory. Then Lord Howe wrote 
a letter addressed to " George Washington, Esq. ; " and 
202 



THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR. 203 

his brother wrote another addressed to *' George Wash- 
ington, &c. : " but Washington declined to receive any 
that were not addressed to him in his true character 
as general commanding the United States army. So 
Lord Howe wrote no more letters, but prepared to 
fight. He won an important victory over General 
Putnam on Long Island (Aug. 27, 1776), and Wash- washing- 
ington with his main army had to leave New York to the retreat. 
British troops, and to retreat gradually through New 
Jersey, followed by Lord Cornwallis, who reached one 
side of the Delaware River just as Washington and his 
army had landed on the other. This retreat naturally 
encouraged the British very much, and discouraged the 
Americans. Washington had hardly three thousand 
men in Pennsylvania ; and many of these had neither 
shoes nor decent clothing. Washington was defeated 
at White Plains (Oct. 28) and the British captured Fort 
Washington (Nov. 16). 

All this made it particularly desirable, as Washington Battle of 
thought, that he should strike some daring blow. He '^''^''*°°' 
knew that there was a body of about a thousand Hes- 
sian troops at Trenton. These Hessians were hired 
troops from the Province of Hesse-Cassel in Germany ; 
and Washington knew the ways of the Germans. He 
was quite sure that on Christmas Day (1776), they 
would have a great celebration, and would be particu- 
larly off their guard. So he waited until the evening 
of that day, crossed the Delaware, and marched all 
night through storm and sleet, taking them by surprise 
at daylight. Some loyalist had written a note to the 
German commander, warning him ; but he had paid no 
attention to it. He was killed in the fight, while all his 
soldiers were taken prisoners. 



204 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Battle of 
Princeton. 



Soon after this, Washington gained a victory at 
Princeton, through a surprise. These successes en- 
couraged the Americans very much ; and, though they 
had now nearly fifty thousand soldiers against them, 
they all wished to persevere. Additional troops were 
raised. Washington fought the battle of Brandywine 
(^Sept. II, 1777) in the effort to save Philadelphia, but 
he was defeated by Howe, who entered that city Sept. 27. 

At Germantown (Oct. 4) Washington attacked Howe's 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE. 



Winter at 
Valley- 
Forge. 



army and was nearly successful. He finally went into 
winter quarters (1777-78) with his army at Valley Forge. 
If we could see in imagination the camp of Wash- 
ington at Valley Forge, we should understand better 
the sacrifice made to secure our liberty. The American 
army had diminished one-half, through desertion and 
illness. From forty-five thousand men it had shrunk 
to twenty thousand. At Valley Forge the soldiers 
slept without blankets ; and many had to sit up all 



THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR. 20^ 

night by their fires. At one time there were more than a 
thousand without shoes ; and you might track them in 
the snow by their bleeding feet. Even the sick often had 
to lie on the bare ground for want of straw. They had 
scarcely any horses ; and the soldiers made little carts 
to draw their wood and provisions to their huts. Offi- 
cers on parade sometimes wore old blankets or faded 
bedquilts to cover them. The troops were hardly 
ever paid ; and the money in which they were paid 
had almost lost its value. Food was scarce ; and the 
gloomy saying was, "No bread, no soldier." There 
were foreign officers in the camp, who had come to aid 
the cauc. ^f liberty, — La Fayette, De Kalb, Kosciusko, 
Pulaski, Steuben. They were men accustomed to 
courts and luxury ; and the buildings where they lived 
were " no gayer than a dungeon." La Fayette said. 
During all this hard time Washington behaved most 
nobly. He was obliged to conceal, as far as possible, 
the wretched condition and small numbers of his army ; 
and at the same time he was constantly censured by 
members of Congress, and even by other generals, 
for not making these poor starved soldiers into "an 
irresistible body of men." Meanwhile the British army 
lived in comfort in Philadelphia, and their officers 
enjoyed every luxury. 

General Burgoyne, with a part of the British army, BurgoyneVi 
invaded the New England States, through Canada, 
early in 1777, issuing a proclamation, inviting the In- 
dians to join him. He passed along Lake Chimplain, 
took Fort Ticonderoga, and afterwards sent a large 
detachment to destroy military stores at Bennington. 
It was attacked, near that town, by General Stark, with 



invasion. 



206 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATE? 

militia-men from Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massa- 
chusetts. Stark had been at Bunker Hill, and had satiS' 
fied himself that the American troops could be trusted to 
attack as well as to resist. He is said to have called out 
to his men, before the battle, " There are the red-coats ! 
Before night we must conquer them, or Molly Stark is 
a widow." The Americans carried the day ; and when, 
a little later, another force of Hessians came up. Stark 
attacked and defeated them also. This success helped 
to encourage the Americans ; and a still greater event 
followed. Burgoyne, with his whole army, encamped 
at Saratoga, and was followed thither by General Gates 
with an American force. Two battles were fought at 
Stillwater, without decided results ; but after this the 
British army retreated. They were, however, hemmed 
in by the army of General Gates. And on Oct. 17, 1777, 
General Burgoyne, with his whole army of more than 
five thousand men, surrendered as prisoners to the 
Americans, at Saratoga. 
Treaty This was an event of the greatest possible impor- 

Fra»ace. tance to the Americans. It encouraged the suttermg 
army of Washington at Valley Forge ; and it startled the 
friends of America in Europe, who had not hoped for 
any success so great. This was especially the case in 
France, where much sympathy had already been felt for 
America, so that young Frenchmen had volunteered in 
our army ; and yet the French Government had steadily 
refused to make a treaty with the American colonies. 
Buc, after the surrender of Burgoyne, Dr. Franklin 
and the other commissioners succeeded in obtaining 
Ciiot only a treaty, but many promises of substantial aid, 
Irom France. This was Feb. 6, 1778. This treaty 



THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR. 20/ 

again alarmed the English Government, and parliament 
passed bills, and sent over commissioners, to conciliate 
America. But it was now too late ; for the Americans 
had grown accustomed to the thought of entire inde- 
pendence, and would take nothing less. However, the 
commissioners came, and tried to influence Congress, 
and offered large bribes to leading patriots, to aid their 
efforts. For instance, a sum of ten thousand pounds 
was offered to Gen. Joseph Reed ; and he replied, " I 
am not worth purchasing ; but such as I am, the king 
of Great Britain is not rich enough to buy me." 

But the direct aid from France proved less than was Last three 
expected. Fleets were sent out by the French Govern- f^J war^ 
ment, to be sure ; but they did little good, and were 
unsuccessful in all their enterprises. The Revolution- 
ary War dragged slowly on for three years more, with 
varying success. Sometimes the Americans were bril- 
liantly successful ; as once at Stony Point, on the Hud- 
son, in 1779, where Gen. Anthony Wayne — "Mad 
Anthony" as he was often called — took a strong for- 
tification on a steep hill, by making his men charge up 
the hill in two columns, with fixed bayonets, and with- 
out firing a gun. At other times the Americans were 
beaten, as when Sir Henry Clinton besieged and took 
Charleston, S. C. The battle of Monmouth (June 28, 
1778) was first a defeat for the Americans, and then a 
victory, Lee's troops being driven back and then rallied 
by Washington. There were cruel massacres, as when 
in 1778 a band of Tories (or American loyalists) 
employed the service of Indians to murder men, 
women, and children at Wyoming, Penn. Then there 
were sea-fights, in the course of which Paul Jones 



208 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



was made famous by one contest between his ship, 
the " Bonhomme Richard," and the British frigate 
" Serapis." The ships were lashed side by side ; and 
they fought for three hours, chiefly from the rigging and 
tops, both ships taking fire again and again, until the 
British vessel yielded. This was in 1779. Then there 
were very daring deeds in the way of what is called par 




THE "BONHOMME RICHARD" AND " SERAPIS." 



Marlon and tisan Warfare, especially by Marion and Sumter, in the 
forests of South Carolina. These brave men threaded 
the woods by paths known only to themselves, and 
made long journeys at night to attack the various posts 
of the British troops, who then held Charleston and its 
neighborhood. Marion was called the Swamp-Fox ; and 
the British officers complained of him for not coming 



THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR. 209 

out into the open field " to fight like an officer and a 
gentleman." But he proved just as brave in the open 
field, at the battle of Eutaw Springs, S. C. (1780). Gen. 
Nathanael Greene commanded the Americans in this 
fight, defeating the British severely : and Greene's whole 
campaign in the South was so successful, that he after- 
ward ranked second only to Washington as a general. 

There was one great act of treason committed during Arnold's 
the war by one of the most distinguished officers of 
the American army, — Gen. Benedict Arnold. He had 
taken part in the war from its very beginning, and had 
distinguished himself by marching a party of troops 
through the forests of Maine to attack Quebec, and by 
commanding a naval force in a severe battle on Lake 
Champlain, and in various other ways. Nevertheless, 
he had the reputation of being selfish and revengeful, 
had not the full confidence of his brother-officers, and 
had seen others promoted above him. For a year and 
a half, as it afterwards proved, he had been in secret 
correspondence with the British commander-in-chief, 
Sir Henry Clinton, the letters passing under feigned 
names ; so that Sir Henry himself did not know, for a 
long time, with whom he was corresponding. In the 
course of this, Arnold got himself appointed to the 
command of the Hudson River, with his headquarters 
at West Point. This was then considered the most The 
strongly fortified point in the colonies, and was called Gibraltar, 
the " American Gibraltar." It was called " the key of 
communication between the Eastern and the Southern 
States ; " so that it would have been almost ruinous to 
the colonial cause if it had been transferred to the 
English. This was what Arnold proposed to surrender ; 



2IO 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



and he would have succeeded, but for the capture of the 
British officer who carried on the negotiations. 

One day some young Americans who were out among 

the hills in what was called the neutral ground, between 

the lines of the two armies, saw a man advancing along 

Capture of the road, stopped him, and questioned him. Supposing 

them to be loyalists, of whom there were many in that 



A.ndr^. 




CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE. 

region, he indiscreetly told them that he was a British 
officer. He proved to be Major Andre, aid-de-camp to 
the commander-in-chief. They then searched him, and 
found papers concealed in his boots, giving full infor- 
mation, received from Arnold, in regard to the garrison 
and defences of West Point, and the plan of its sur- 
render. Major Andr6 ofTered them large sums for his 
release ; but they refused to accept them, and took hiru 



THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR. 



211 



Andre. 



to the nearest military station. This was on the 23d 

of September, 1780. He was afterwards tried by court- Hanging of 

martial, and hanged as a spy. Much sympathy was 

felt for Andre; but it was remembered that a brave 

young American officer, Captain Nathan Hale, had 

been hanged as a spy by the British, four years before 

(Sept 22, 1776). Arnold afterwards escaped to the 

British lines, and finally joined the British army. He 

aided in fighting against his own countrymen, was made 

a brigadier-general, and had a large reward in money ; 

but he was generally despised, avoided, and insulted. 

The friendship of France had been a great help and 
encouragement to 
the Americans ; 
but the French 
army had not done 
much direct service 
thus far, though 
Count Rocham- 
beau had landed 
at Newport, R.I., 
in 1780, with six 
thousand men. 
But the war closed 
with one great vic- 
tory, in which the 
French played a 
ery important 
t^art. It was at Yorktown, Va., where General Corn- 
wallis had made his headquarters. General Washington 
was there with American troops, and Count Rocham- 
beau with a corps of French soldiers, while Admiral de 




LORD CORNWALLIS. 



212 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

Grasse blockaded York River. After ten days' siege, 
when some of his most important works had been 
destroyed by the American artillery, Lord Cornwallis 
planned to leave Yorktown at night, to cross York 

Surrender Rivcr, and retreat to New York. A storm prevented ; 

J^^/^' and he surrendered to Washington. 

On Oct. 19, 1 78 1, the allied armies, French and 
American, were drawn up in two columns outside York- 
town, with Washington and Rochambeau, on horse- 
back, at their head ; and between them the conquered 
troops marched out, and laid down their arms. There 
were about seven thousand British troops, and some 
sixteen thousand French and American. Even now, 
in some country militia musters, the soldiers go through 
the forms of that surrender, and call the military per- 
formance "a Cornwallis." Great was the joy which 
followed : and those who were awake that night in 
Philadelphia heard the watchman cry, " Past two o'clock, 
and Cornwallis is taken 1 " On hearing the news, 
Congress recommended a day of thanksgiving to be 
observed throughout the States; and Washington or- 
dered the liberation of all persons under arrest for any 
offence, that all might share in the general joy. 

Cost of the Well might the Americans rejoice ; for all men felt 
that the surrender of Cornwallis decided the result of 
the war. It was a war that had lasted nearly seven 
years, and cost Great Britain a hundred million pounds 
sterling, and fifty thousand lives, besides depriving that 
nation of the very colonies for whose taxation the war 
was waged. It was a war, in the words of the great 
English statesman, Mr. Pitt, " which was conceived in 
injustice, nurtured in folly, and whose footsteps were 



THE REMAINDER OF THE WAR. 213 

marked with slaughter and devastation." It had also 
cost the Americans untold suffering ; but they knew 
that the end was worth the sacrifice. There was more 
fighting, here and there, after the surrender of Corn- 
wallis ; and the British held, for nearly two years more, 
the cities of New York, Charleston, and Savannah. 
But no extensive campaign took place ; and at last, on Treaty of 
Sept. 3, 1783, a treaty was made at Paris, between the ^^"^* 
English and American commissioners, by which was 
established all that the Declaration of Independence 
had proclaimed ; and the new nation, called " The 
United States of America," took its place among the 
governments of the earth. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



AFTER THE WAR. 



Poverty of 
the 3ol" 



Defects of 
the old 
confeder- 
ation. 



ON the 3d of November, 1783, the Revolutionary 
army was disbanded. At the end of the long 
struggle, the American Colonies were left very poor ; 
and their money had so declined in value, that it took 
a hundred paper dollars to buy a pair of shoes. The 
discharged soldiers of the army were so destitute and 
so dissatisfied that it needed all General Washington's 
influence to quiet them. People had to be taxed to 
pay the expenses of the government ; and yet many 
had not money to pay their taxes ; and a rebellion 
broke out in Massachusetts, called " Shays' Rebellion," 
composed of men who thought that no taxes or debts 
ought to be paid at such a time. All this was very 
alarming, and convinced the Americans that they 
needed a stronger government than the mere league 
which they had formed in 1777, and which had carried 
them through the war. The trouble with the govern 
ment had been, all along, that the colonies were jealous 
of each other, and especially the smaller of the larger ; 
and so they had all wished to give the " Confederation," 
as it had been called, just as little power as they could. 
They were so afraid that their government would be 
tyrannical, that they had hardly given Congress any 
214 



AFTER THE WAR. 21$ 

means of action. Congress was not authorized to raise 
money by taxes, or to fix the rates of duties on foreign 
goods imported, or to compel obedience to any law. 
It was found that foreign countries did not like to 
make treaties with such a loose and feeble government. 
Washington said, "We are one nation to-day, and 
thirteen to-morrow : who will treat with us on these 
terms ? " 

It was perceived that this would never do ; and so The con. 

r 1 1 11 1 • 1 stitutlon. 

a convention of delegates was called, to meet in the 
State House at Philadelphia, in order to decide upon 
a new constitution, and make, if possible, a stronger 
government, without doing harm to the liberties of the 
people. There was a long discussion, lasting many 
weeks, in this convention; but at last, on Sept. 17, 
1787, the present Constitution was adopted. It had 
still to be accepted by the different States, and there 
was a good deal of opposition to it ; while it was very 
strongly urged by Alexander Hamilton and others, in a 
celebrated series of papers, called " The Federalist." 
However, ten of the thirteen States agreed to it almost 
immediately; so that it went into effect in 1788. Of 
the three which remained. New York accepted the Con- 
stitution in time to take part in the first presidential 
election, that same year. North Carolina accepted it 
during the year following; and Rhode Island, last of 
all, in the year after that (1790). Thus the old " Con- The 
federation" ended, and the new " Union" began. The 
Confederation had changed the Colonies into inde- 
pendent States ; and the Union now united these 
States into a single nation. The nation has governed 
itself, ever since, under the Constitution then adopted, 



2l6 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

although some amendments have been made to it from 
time to time. 
Celebration There Were orreat celebrations over all the country 

at Phil- ^ . , . ^ 

adeiphia whcu the new Constitution went into effect, and the 
new nation began to exist. In Philadelphia, for in- 
stance, there was a procession of five thousand people, 
representing all trades and pursuits. Such a procession 
of trades w^as then quite a new thing ; and it was thought 
to show the difference between republican and monar- 
chical government ; because in Europe, at that time, 
all triumphal processions were almost wholly military 
in their character. In the procession there were figures 
in emblematical costumes, representing the Declara- 
tion of Independence, the French Alliance, the Treaty 
of Peace, and so on. The Constitution was repre- 
sented by a lofty car, in the shape of an eagle, drawn 
by six horses. The judges of the Supreme Court sat in 
this car, bearing the Constitution, framed, and fixed 
upon a staff, which was crowned with the cap of liberty, 
and was inscribed in gold letters " The People." Then 
a carriage, drawn by ten white horses, supported the 
model of a building representing the Federal Govern- 
ment ; its roof being upheld by thirteen columns. 
Three of these were left unfinished, to represent the 
States that had not yet ratified the Constitution ; and 
ten were finished, to represent the States that had al- 
ready joined. There were also ten ships along the 
river, with flags and t^ilt inscriptions, in honor of these 
ten States. The clergy of the city walked in the pro- 
cession ; and the Jewish rabbi went between two Chris- 
tian ministers, to show that the new Republic was 
founded on religious toleration. 



AFTER THE WAR. 



217 



George Washington was chosen the first President Df our first 
the Republic, and John Adams the Vice-President. New p''®^^**®''* 
York was to be the seat of government; and as Wash- ms jour- 



ney to 



ington travelled thither from his home in Virginia, he New 
had enthusiastic greetings everywhere. At Trenton, 
for instance, where he had formerly fought several bat- 
tles, he found a triumphal arch thrown across a bridge 



-^^ 




RECEPTION OF WASHINGTON AT TRENTON. 

which he was to pass. It was the very bridge over 
which he had once retreated before the army of Corn- 
wallis. The arch was supported on thirteen pillars, 
was wreathed with flowers, and bore the inscription, 
" The Defender of the Mothers will be the Preserver of 
the Daughters." Beneath this arch stood a party of 
young girls, with baskets of flowers in their hands ; and 
they sang this song as Washington drew near : — 



2l8 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

" Welcome, mighty chief, once more, 
Welcome to this grateful shore : 
Now no mercenary foe 
Aims again the fatal blow, — 
Aims at thee the fatal blow. 

Virgins fair, and matrons grave, 
Those thy conquering arm did save, 
Build for thee triumphal bowers : 
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers ! — 
Strew your hero's way with flowers ! " 

Suiting the action to the word, they strewed before 
him the flowers from their baskets. 
.lis recep- As he approached New York, a delegation was sent 
New York, out to meet him. A barge was provided with a crew of 
thirteen, wearing wliite uniforms, this number being 
chosen to represent tlie thirteen colonies ; and many 
other boats joined in procession, with flags flying. The 
governor of the State and many others were in waiting 
at the wharf, and escorted Washington, amid great 
enthusiasm, to his quarters. Carriages were provided, 
but he preferred to walk ; and the procession passed 
through the streets, while handkerchiefs were waved, 
I'be inau«- and flowcrs were strewed in the way. Some days after, 
the ceremony of inauguration took place on the balcony 
of what was then the senate-chamber. It was a builu 
ing called "Federal Hall," which stood at the meeting 
of four streets ; and these streets were so crowded, that, 
as an eye-witness said, " It seemed as if one might lit- 
erally walk on the heads of the people.'' When Wash- 
ington came forth upon the balcony, the chancellor of 
New York read the inaugural oath to him, and he 
repeated it. After the oath was administered, there 
was a cry of " Long live George Washington, President 



AFTER THE WAR. 219 

if the United States ! " to which the assembled crowd 
eplied with shouts of enthusiasm. Then a flag was 
aised on the cupola of the hall, and there was a gen- 
ral discharge of artillery, and pealing of bells. Thus The new 
/as the new Republic fully organized at last, with a ^lfy^^^° 
hief magistrate who had the respect and love of the organized, 
/hole people. This was April 30, 1789. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 



Condition 
of the 
country. 



Relations 

with 

France. 



BUT Washington and those who aided him in the 
American Government had need of all their wis- 
dom, and of all the public confidence, amid the duties 
that were to be done. The affairs of the United States 
were found to be in most alarming condition. The 
nation was very much in debt; people were very unwil- 
ling to pay taxes ; the Indians were hostile ; the pirates 
of the Barbary States often attacked American ships ; 
and the relations of the new government with England, 
France, and Spain, were all very unsatisfactory. But 
within a few years all was changed. The money-matters 
were put on a sound basis ; the rioters and the Indians 
were subdued ; and treaties were made with Algiers, 
Spain, and England. This last treaty was made in 
1794, by John Jay, and was very much opposed by 
many people, because it was thought to be too favora- 
ble to England ; but it was at length ratified, and there 
was a period of peace between the two nations. 

During all this prosperity the affairs of France still 
gave the United States a great deal of trouble. There 
had been in France a great revolution, which the success 
of the American struggle had helped to bring about. 
The old French monarchy had been overthrown; and 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 221 

an attempt had been made to set up a republic in its 
place. Unhappily this attempt had led to terrible 
violence and bloodshed. All this made much excite- 
ment in the United States, because France had been 
the great ally of America during the Revolutionary 
War ; and, moreover, the French seemed to be trying to 
do just what the Americans had done, though the 
attempt ended very differently in the two cases. So The two 
there was in the United States a very strong party p^"^^®^- 
which sympathized heartily with the French Revolu- 
tion ; and, on the other hand, there was another strong 
party, composed of those who were afraid of French 
example and French influence, and who wished the 
United States Government to resemble the English 
Government as much as possible. These admirers of 
England were commonly called " Federalists " in those 
days ; while those who sympathized with France were 
called " Republicans," and afterwards " Democrats." 
Washington, Hamilton, and John Adams were con- 
sidered Federalists ; while Jefferson and Samuel Adams 
were Democrats. 

This difference between the two parties showed itself Further 
even in regard to the forms and ceremonies of the between 
government, and the style of living among public par«7s° 
officers. The Federalists were afraid that the national 
government would not command respect enough ; and 
they wished to see a good deal of formality, and even 
of elegance. On the other hand, the Democrats feared 
that the national government would become too power- 
ful ; that it would destroy the rights of the States ; and 
that it would become too costly and aristocratic, as 
in European nations. President Washington's way of 



222 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The title 
of the 
President. 



The state- 
coach. 



Levees. 



living was complained of as loo showy and expensive ; 
and it certainly would seem so to us, although, in those 
days, the habits of society were different, and these 
things attracted less attention. When, for instance, it 
was doubted by what official name the president should 
be called, Washington was himself in favor of the words, 
"High Mightiness," — the words used to describe the 
Stadtholder of Holland ; that State being then a repub- 
lic. This phrase was, however, rejected ; and the more 
moderate title, " Excellency," was substituted. Again : 
when Washington drove to the sessions of Congress, he 
went in a state-coach, of which the body was in the 
shape of a hemisphere, cream-colored, bordered with 
flowers round the panels, and ornamented with figures 
representing cupids, and supporting festoons. On great 
occasions the coach was drawn by six horses ; on ordi- 
nary occasions, by four; and on Sundays, by two only. 
The driver and postilions wore liveries of white and 
scarlet. 

President Washington held levees, or receptions, once 
a fortnight,. in his own house. At precisely three in 
the afternoon the doors of the great dining-room were 
thrown open ; and the guests who were admitted saw 
the president standing before the fireplace, with mem- 
bers of his cabinet or other eminent men around him. 
On these occasions he was usually dressed in black 
velvet, with white or pearl-colored waistcoat, yellow 
gloves, and silver knee-buckles and shoe-buckles. His 
hair was powdered, and gathered into a silk bag behind. 
He carried a cocked hat in his hand, and wore a long 
sword with a scabbard of polished white leather. He 
never shook hands with his oruests, but bowed to each 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 223 

when introduced, and afterwards had a little conversa- 
tion with each. Mrs. Washington, also, had evening 
levees, at which every one appeared in full dress. The The 
birthday of the President was celebrated by dinners the presi- 
and public meetings in all the large towns of the *^®^*' 
nation, as the birthday of the king of England had 
been before celebrated ; and on these occasions odes 
were often addressed to Washington by poets. All these 
things were believed by many people to have an impor- 
tant influence in adding dignity and decorum to the 
young Republic. Others, however, thought that harm 
was done by this imitation of the customs prevailing in 
monarchies ; and such persons accused Washington of 
too much etiquette and ostentation. 

It must be remembered that in all classes of society costumes, 
there was then more formality than now, and that the 
display of elegant costumes was much greater. The 
judges of the Supreme Court in winter wore robes of 
scarlet faced with velvet, and in summer wore very 
full black silk robes, as is still their practice. Clergy- 
men wore wigs, with gown and bands, in the pulpit, 
and cocked hats in the street. In private life, there 
was much the same style of dress after the Revolution 
as before, although, for a time, people were poorer. 
Ladies wore those beautiful silks and brocades wiiich 
are still preserved as heirlooms in many American 
families ; and their hair was dressed with powder and 
pomatum, and often built up to a great height above the 
head. The hair-dressers were kept so busy on the day 
of any fashionable entertainment, that ladies sometimes 
had to employ their services at four or five in the 
morning, and had to sit upright all the rest of the day, 



224 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The 
snufT-boz. 



Bntertain- 
ments. 



in order to avoid disturbing the head-dress. Gentle- 
men had a great variety of color in their clothes, and 
employed a richness of material such as only ladies 
now display. " If a gentleman went abroad, he ap- 
peared in his wig, white stock, white satin embroidered 
vest, black satin small-clothes with white silk stockings, 
and fine broadcloth or velvet coat : if at home, a velvet 
cap, sometimes with a fine linen one under it, took the 
place of a wig ; while a gown, frequently of colored 
damask, lined with silk, was substituted for the coat, 
and the feet were covered with leather slippers of some 
fancy color." Gentlemen took snuif almost universally 
in those da3^s ; and a great deal of expense and beauty 
was often lavished on a snuff-box. To take snuff with 
one another was as much a matter of courtesy as the 
lifting of the hat. 

The theatre was only just beginning to be publicly 
tolerated ; but private theatricals sometimes took place ; 
and Washington occasionally had them at his own 
house. Concerts of music were allowed ; and balls 
were sometimes given on a very large scale, especially 
by foreign ambassadors. At one of these, given in 
Philadelphia by the French Ambassador, a building 
was erected on purpose for the entertainment. There 
were seven hundred guests, and ten thousand specta- 
tors were collected in the street outside. In those 
days ladies and gentlemen went to balls in sedan- 
chairs, carried by men ; and guests were expected to ar- 
rive between seven and eight. The dances were chiefly 
minuets and contra-dances ; quadrilles being only just 
introduced. At the first Inauguration Ball, a quantity 
of fans, ordered from Paris for the purpose, were dis- 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 225 

tributed among the ladies. These fans were of ivory 
and paper ; and each bore a medallion portrait of Gen- 
eral Washington. 

While this was the way of living among the more The peopia 
fashionable classes of society, the people at large were ** ^^'^^®' 
gradually recovering from the losses of war, and were 
engaging in various branches of industry. War is apt 
to unsettle the habits of a people ; but most of the dis- 
charged soldiers of the Revolution went willingly back 
to their farms and workshops, and were proud of hav- 
ing established a republic where there was liberty and 
also law. Many were for a time very poor ; but there 
were few beggars to be seen, — so few as to surprise 
foreign travellers. The chief occupations of the peo- 
ple were agriculture and commerce, together with hunt- 
ing and fishing. There were as yet neither cotton-mills 
nor woollen-mills ; and very few of the varied modern 
mechanical inventions had yet been introduced. In 
the country, people still had great open fires of wood, primitiTe 
still burned tallow candles of their own making, and °'^^*°°='* 
wore homespun garments. Even people in the cities 
were not far from the wilderness ; and the gun and 
fishing-rod were to be found in most houses, even in 
the Eastern States; while at the South there were 
hardly any large towns at all, and the Far West was as 
yet unexplored by the English colonists, and was only 
known by the Canadian French. 

During the administration of Washington, a most im- 
portant invention was made, which was destined to have 
great influence on American history. When the first 
European explorers came to the American Continent, 
they found growing wild, in its southern parts, a plant 



226 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

called cotton. It had already been used in other 
parts of the world ; its fine fibre, or down, being spun 
into cloth. It was easy enough to raise cotton ; but 
the great trouble was to separate the seed from the 
fibre, which was called " ginning " it. It had to be 
done by hand, and it took a whole day to gin a pound. 
Invention Finally an ingenious young man from Massachusetts, 
ootton-gin. named Eli Whitney, who had just graduated at Yale 
College, went to Georgia to teach school; and the 
widow of General Greene, in whose family he was living, 
and who had seen how skilfully he made toys for her 
children, begged him to invent a machine for ginning 
cotton. He had never even seen the cotton-seed ; but 
he walked to Savannah, got some of the seed, and 
tried experiments in machinery. He could not even 
buy tools or wire in that region, but had to make them 
for himself. This was in 1792. At last, with great 
difficulty, he made a rude machine, and showed it to 
his friend, Mrs. Greene, who invited the leading cot- 
ton-planters to examine it. All saw at once that it was 
to be successful ; but, before it could be finished, the 
building in which he worked was broken open by night, 
and the machine was carried off. Other machines were 
made from it ; and it was long before the inventor could 
get any compensation for his labor. After this in- 
vention was perfected, the cultivation and manufacture 
of cotton at once grew up to immense importance ; and 
American cotton supplied the world, which never could 
have been the case but for some such invention as that 
of Eli Whitney. 
Benjamin Soon after Washington became president, one of the 
Franklin, i-^qsi- distinguished of Americans died, — one of those 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 



227 



who had rendered the greatest services to the hberty 
of their country. This was Dr. Benjamin Franklin. 
He was born in Boston, in 1706, and was the son of a 
poor tallow-chandler. When a boy he learned the 
printer's trade ; and at seventeen left home, and estab- 
lished himself in Philadelphia. He and a young part- 
ner began busi- 
ness with no capi- 
tal, and felt very 
grateful to a friend 
whom they met in 
the street, who, 
gave them a five- 
shilling job. Then 
they set up a news- 
paper, and pub- 
lished an alma- 
nac, called "Poor 
Richard's Alma- 
nack," which had 
a great circula- 
tion. They also 
dealt in all sorts 
of small wares, — 
rags, ink, soap, 
feathers, coffee. 

great student of the sciences, especially of electricity ; eircSc°ty 
and he formed the theory that lightning and the electrical 
fluid were the same thing. This he said in a pamphlet ; 
and some readers thought it a very absurd view. Then 
he resolved to prove it ; and he and his young son made 
a great kite of a silk handkerchief, fastened a piece of 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 

Franklin was a great reader, and a Prankim'a 



228 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

sharpened wire to the stick, and went out to fly the kite 
in a thunder-storm. As the low thunder-cloud passed, 
the electric fluid came down the string of the kite ; 
and, when Franklin touched a key that he had fastened 
to the string, his knuckles drew sparks from it and 
proved that electricity was there. This soon led him 
to invent the lightning-rod which is now in such uni- 
versal use, and draws down the electricity from the 
cloud, on the same principle. This discovery at once 
made him very famous in Europe, as well as in America. 
He was afterwards sent to England on a public mission, 
and remained there till the outbreak of the Revolution. 
Returning to America, he was one of the framers and 
signers of the Declaration of Independence. After- 
wards he was sent ambassador to France, and aided 
in making the treaty with France which secured the 
independence of the American Colonies. He was a 
Franklin's Yn2Ln of the greatest activity, public spirit, and wit. He 
had a most important influence in all public affairs, 
and founded more good institutions and benevolent 
enterprises than any American of his time. His last 
public act was to sign a memorial to Congress, 
in behalf of the Philadelphia Antislavery Society, of 
which he was president, asking the abolition of slavery. 
He lived to be eighty-four, dying April 17, 1790. The 
whole nation mourned when he died ; and Mirabeau, 
then the leader of the French Assembly, called him 
" the sage whom two worlds claim as their own," and 
proposed that the Assembly should wear mourning on 
the arm for him, during three days, which was done. 
It was said of him by a celebrated Frenchman, Turgot, 
that " he snatched the lightning from the sky, and the 
sceptre from tyrants." 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 229 

During Washington's administration several new Vermont 
States were added to the original thirteen. The first * °^^ ® 
of these was Vermont, in 1791. Vermont had been 
first settled by pioneers, to whom the governor of New 
Hampshire had granted lands, — hardy men, who lived 
by cutting down the forests, and by establishing iron- 
furnaces. After a time New York claimed this terri- 
tory, and tried to drive out the settlers. They resisted, 
and sent Ethan Allen, their leader, to remonstrate 
with the New York legislature. The legislature treated 
the demands of the settlers with contempt ; upon 
which Ethan Allen went away, defying them, and said 
in the words of the Bible, " Our gods are gods of the 
hills : therefore they are stronger than yours." Then 
New York sent officers to drive out the settlers ; but 
the "Green Mountain Boys," as they began to be 
called, resisted. If any one attempted to eject them 
from their settlements, he was seized, tied to a tree, and 
whipped with beechen rods ; which process they called 
" applying the beech seal." Large rewards were offered 
for the arrest of Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, and others, 
but to no avail. When the Revolution broke out, the 
" Green Mountain Boys " wished to join the Provincial 
Congress ; but New York objected to this, and they 
were excluded. However, they distinguished them- 
selves very much during the Revolution, and were 
admitted soon after the Union had been formed; 
taking for their settlement the name of Vermont, which 
signifies " Green Mountain." 

Then Kentucky came into the Union in 1792. Kentucky 
This region was at first considered as a part of Vir- ***™"*^**- 
ginia, and was only explored a short time before the 



230 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

American Revolution. The first explorer was Daniel 
Boone, a famous hunter and pioneer. He used to 
penetrate the wildest regions with small parties of 
men, to hunt and trap wild animals for the furs, and to 
make salt at the famous " Salt Licks," or springs. He 
built forts, and sometimes held them for several days, 
with his few men, against much larger bodies of Indi- 
ans. Once he was carried away a prisoner, and adopted 
into an Indian family, but at last made his escape. 
After his adventures were made known, settlers rapidly 
flocked in, coming mostly from the lower parts of Vir- 
ginia, and bringing their slaves with them. They were 
stoutly resisted by the Indians ; and a long series of 
conflicts followed, from which came the name by which 
that region was long known, " The Dark and Bloody 
Ground." The Spanish Government tried at one time 
to induce the Kentuckians to declare themselves in- 
dependent of the Union, and then to join Louisiana, 
which still belonged to Spain. But all these efforts 
failed, and the " Dark and Bloody Ground " became 
one of the United States. The name Kentucky is said 
to mean " Long River." 
Tennessee Tenncssce camc into the Union next, in 1706. This 

admitted. ' ' ^ 

part of the country had been explored much earlier 
than Kentucky, and had, probably, been visited by De 
Soto long before the settlement of the more eastern 
States. De Soto was probably the first European to 
conduct a party of men to the Mississippi River, or 
the " Hidden River," or " Inland Sea," as it was then 
often called ; and he had marched with his troops and 
cannon, for weeks, through wildernesses before unex- 
plored. When he died of fever at last, in 1542, his 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 2^\ 

soldiers wished to secure his remains against the Indi- 
ans ; so they hollowed the trunk of an old tree, placed 
his body in it, and sunk it in a deep part of the Missis- 
sippi River. But, for a long time afterwards, that part 
of the country was almost unvisited by white men, and 
the land was occupied more slowly than in Kentucky. 
The settlers came chiefly from North Carolina ; and for 
a time their settlements were considered a part of that 
colony. At one time the people became dissatisfied, 
and tried to establish a separate State, under the name 
of Franklin ; but the project was given up, and, after 
various changes, that whole region was admitted as one 
of the United States under the name of Tennessee ; this 
being the Indian name for the principal river that flows 
through it. The settlers had brought their slaves with 
them ; so that Tennessee, also, was a slave State. 

Thus, at the end of Washington's administration, 
there were sixteen States in the Union. There was The North- 
also the "North-west Territory," as it was called, not J^^y * '^^'■"' 
yet organized into States, — the whole wide region 
between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, from which 
slavery had been forever excluded by a law passed by 
Congress in 1787. The first census of the nation was The first 
taken in 1790; and the population was about four mil- i^go^^' 
lions (3,929,214). 

Washington served two terms, or eight years, and then 
declined a re-election. John Adams of Massachusetts, The second 
who had been vice-president, was the second president 
of the United States (1797-1801), He was what was 
called a Federalist, and was chosen by a small majority 
over Thomas Jefferson, who belonged to the opposite 
party. It was the law in those days that the candidate 



232 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

who came second in the presidential election should 
be made vice-president ; and so Mr. Jefferson was 
assigned to that office under Mr. Adams, though they 
differed a great deal in their politics. President 
Adams had been one of the foremost of the patriots 
from the outbreak of the Revolution. He had after- 
wards assisted in framing the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence ; and he 
had been one of 
the ambassadors 
to make the treaty 
with France at the 
close of the Rev- 
olution. He was 
inaugurated presi- 
dent at Philadel- 
phia, to which city 
the seat of govern- 
ment had been re- 
moved. Under his 
administration it 
was removed 
thence to Wash- 
ington, to a site 
which President Washington himself had selected. 

After President Adams came into power, the trou- 
bles with France went on increasing. Ambassadors 
had been sent there from the United States; but the 
French Government would not receive them. Then it 
was hinted to the ambassadors that a payment of 
money would reconcile France ; and one of them 
answered, " Millions for defence, not a cent for trib- 



Removal of 
the seat of 
govern- 
ment. 




JOHN ADAMS. 



Troubles 

with 

France. 



WASHINGTON AND ADAMS. 233 

ute." It was Charles C. Pinckney of South Carolina 
who said this ; and the sentiment was repeated every- 
where through the United States. There seemed to 
be great prospect of another war ; and General Wash- 
ington was called from his quiet home in Virginia, to 
take command of the army. There were some sea- 
fights between French and American vessels ; but, 
when Napoleon Bonaparte came into power. President 
Adams succeeded in making a treaty with him, in 1800 ; 
and after this there was peace with France. 

But there had to be an increase of taxation to meet unpopu- 
the expense of these preparations for war ; and this Adams, 
made the administration of President Adams unpopular 
with many people. Some laws had also been passed, 
called " Alien and Sedition Laws," which were very 
much disliked, because they gave the president au- 
thority to arrest any foreigner, and to send him out of 
the country without a trial ; and also gave unusual 
power to the president in other ways. Great as Presi- 
dent Adams's public services had been, he was made 
very unpopular by these laws ; and he was not re- 
elected for a second term, as Washington had been. 
The popular vote was so divided, that there was no 
choice ; and the House of Representatives, which had 
in such cases the right of deciding, chose Mr. Jefferson 
as president, in Mr. Adams's place. 

It was during the administratio^i of President Death of 
Adams, that General Washington died, Dec. 14, 1799. ton. 
There had been much party bitterness during the latter 
part of Washington^ administration ; but when he 
died the whole nation mourned. All felt how much 
the new American Republic had owed to his courage, 



234 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

foresight, truthfulness, and disinterestedness. The 
resolutions passed by the House of Representatives 
declared that he was " first in war, first in peace, and 
first in the hearts of his countrymen." This was very 
true ; and the phrase has become almost a proverb in 
speaking of Washington, 
^new No new States were admitted into the Union in 

territory 

organized. President Adams's time ; but the region between 
Georgia and the Mississippi River was organized into 
a "territory," and began to be settled. It comprised 
what is now included by the States of Mississippi and 
Alabama. None of the vast region west of the Mis- 
sissippi yet belonged to the United States, nor did 
The second Florida. Another census of the nation was taken in 
1800. ' 1800 ; and the population had risen to nearly five mil- 
lions and a half (5,308^483). 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 



THOMAS JEFFERSON of Virginia was the third The third 
president of the United States, and served two ^''®^^*^®°*- 
terms (1801-1809). He was well known as having been 
the framer of the 
Declaration of In- 
dependence, and 
as having been 
vice-president un- 
der John Adams. 
H e represented 
the Republican 
party, as it was 
then called, or 
Democratic party, 
as it was after- 
wards called, — : 
the party which 
sympathized with 
France rather than 
with England in 
the war that was 
going on between 

those nations. American politics turned very much on 

235 




THOMAS JEFFERSON. 



236 



Commer- 
cial 
troubles. 



The right 
of search. 



The Em- 
bargo. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

this war, because it put the United States in a very diffi- 
cult position. Both France and England had issued 
orders, each nation forbidding all trade with the other, 
and claiming the right to confiscate all vessels engaged 
in such trade. Thus every American vessel on theji 
ocean was liable to capture by the one or the other of ! 
these two nations ; and, whether an American ship- ; 
master saw the English or the French flag, he tried f 
equally hard to keep out of the way, for fear of having j. 
his vessel seized, and his crew perhaps imprisoned. i' 

Besides this, the English claimed the right to search i 



American vessels to see if there were 



any 



English 1 



seamen on board, and to take any such, if found ; and ' 
several hundred men were thus seized in the course of 
a single year. It even happened, once or twice, that 
the whole crew of a ship was taken, and the vessel 
was left with nobody to man it. Once the British man- 
of-war *' Leopard " attempted to search the American 
frigate " Chesapeake," for deserters, within sight of 
Fortress Monroe in Virginia ; and, when the Am.eiican 
commander refused to submit, his ship was fired upon, 
and compelled to surrender ; and four men were carried 
away, one of whom was hanged. All this caused the 
greatest injury to American commerce, and much angry 
feeling against Great Britain. Then Congress, wishing 
to punish England by ceasins: to trade with her, laid, 
in 1807, an "embargo," as it was called, or prohibition, 
forbidding American shipping from leaving American 
ports. But this hurt the United States, in the end, 
much more than it hurt England. It completed the 
injury that other causes had begun; and it made Presi- 
dent Jefferson very unpopular, for a time, with Ameri- 
can merchants. 



Jefferson's administration. 



23; 



There was also much trouble with the Barbary Troubles 
States, along the Mediterranean Sea. These States Balblry 
subsisted by piracy, and by claiming as slaves the ^***®8. 
crews and passengers of all vessels that they took. It 
was a common thing, at that time, for notices to be 
read in American churches of the captivity of mem- 
bers of the church in Tripoli or Algiers. Then a sum 
of money was usually raised for the ransom of each, — 
as much as four thousand dollars for a captain or a 
passenger. Sometimes these sums were paid by sub- 
scription, and sometimes by the government. Thou- 
sands of Americans were thus held in captivity ; and 
millions of dollars were spent for ransom. A treaty 
was made with these Barbary States, by which it was 
agreed that the United States should pay a certain 
amount of money for 
the protection of the 
national commerce. 
Then a dispute arose 
about the terms of 
this treaty ; and Pres- 
ident Jefferson re- 
solved to bear this 
humiliation no long- 
er. The American 
navy consisted, at 
that time, of but six 
vessels ; and he sent 
four of them to the 
Mediterranean. One 
of these, the frigate 
" Philadelphia," under Captain Bainbridge, ran aground 




LIEUTENANT DECATUR. 



238 



Burning 
Che "Phila- 
delphia." 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

in the harbor of Tripoli, and was captured ; and the 
crew were made slaves. A young lieutenant, named 
Decatur, proposed to the commander of the fleet to 
take command of a Tripolitan vessel that had just been 
captured, put an American crew on board, enter the 
harbor by night, and rescue or burn the " Philadelphia." 
This was successfully done. The little Tripolitan ves- 




DECATUR BURNING THE " PHILADELPHIA. 



sel came quietly in beside the captured frigate ; and 
Decatur and his men recaptured her in ten minutes. 
But it was impossible to move her ; and in a few min- 
utes the "Philadelphia" was in flames, and the little 
vessel of Decatur was sailing out of the harbor again, 
without the loss of a man. This was on Feb. 15, 1804. 
Decatur afterwards distinguished himself in some des- 



JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 239 

perate contests with the Tripolitans ; and many years 
later, at the head of a squadron, he so intimidated 
all the Barbary States, that they never afterwards 
demanded tribute of Americans, or claimed the right 
to hold them as slaves. 

Jefferson's administration was conducted on a system Jefferson^ s 
very different, in some respects, from those of Wash- Jab^t^^aLd 
ington and Adams. His personal habits were very views of 

<=> ^ J govern- 

simple, and so were his views of government. Instead ment. 
of going in a coach-and-six to the Capitol, as Washing- 
ton had done, Jefferson rode thither on horseback, on 
the day of his inauguration, dismounted, tied his horse 
to a post, and read his address. Afterwards he did not 
do even this, but sent a " message " to Congress by a 
secretary, as has been the practice ever since. He 
abolished the weekly levees, but, on New Year's Day 
and the Fourth of July, threw open his doors to the 
whole people. He would not have his birthday cele- 
brated, as had been the previous custom ; but concealed 
the day in order to prevent this. He reduced the 
expenses of the government as far as possible, and paid 
off thirty-three millions of debt. He believed strongly 
in universal suffrage, at least for all persons of the 
male sex. He thought that all men had a natural 
right to vote for their own rulers, and his party sus- 
tained him in this ; while the Federal party looked with 
great distrust on the system of government by popular 
vote, and believed that suffrage should be very care- 
fully limited. We must remember that in those days a 
republican government seemed, even to many patriotic 
Americans, a very doubtful experiment ; while Jefferson 
had a very hearty faith in it, and so did a great deal 



240 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES, 

for its success. But party spirit ran very high then ; 
and there has been a great division of opinion, ever 
since, as to the wisdom of much that was done by 
Jefferson. 
Prohibition One important event that happened during Jeffer- 
can slave son's administration was the passage of a law forbid- 
trade. ^-^^^ ^^iq African slave-trade. This trade had existed 

ever since 1619, when the first slaves were brought 
into Virginia ; and it was agreed, when the Constitution 
was formed, that there should be no interference with 
the slave-trade until Jan. i, 1808. More than a year 
before that time, President Jefferson called the atten- 
tion of Congress to the subject, and congratulated the 
members that they would soon be able to forbid a traffic, 
" which," he said, " the morality, the reputation, and 
the best interests of the country, have long been eager 
to proscribe." Then arose a very exciting debate in 
Congress. No one was in favor of continuing the slave- 
trade, but there were great differences of opinion as to 
the way of putting it down ; and it was, moreover, 
pointed out, that, if it was right to hold slaves at all, it 
could not be wrong to import them. At last, under the 
lead of Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, and others, a 
law was passed, forbidding the importation of slaves 
from any foreign country into the United States, after 
the year 1807. In spite of the law, however, slaves 
were secretly imported for many years, until treaties 
were made with other maritime countries, by which the 
slave-trade was declared to be piracy, and the navies of 
different nations united to break it up. But the slave- 
trade between the States of the American Union, not 
being prohibited by law, lasted till American slavery 
itself was abolished by the war of the Rebellion. 



THE FIRST STEAMBOAT. 



241 



The most important invention made in America dur- The erst 
ing Jefferson's administration was that of the steam- ^ ^^^ °^ 
boat. The first person to propose it was Thomas 
Paine, in 1778, during the Revokition. James Ramsey 
in 1784 built a vessel which reached a speed of three or 
four miles an hour, against the stream, on the Potomac. 
John Fitch built one, soon after, that was employed on 
the Delaware ; and 
he predicted, more- 
over, that steamships 
would one day cross 
the Atlantic. But 
these steamboats 
were not at all like 
those now built; their 
engines being made 
upon a different prin- 
ciple. The first boat 
constructed on the 
present plan was 
launched upon the 
Hudson, by Robert 

Fulton, in 1807. While the vessel was being built, it 
was called " Fulton's Folly," and every one laughed at 
it. He himself wrote that no one had ever made to 
him a single encouraging remark about it. But, before 
the boat had gone a quarter of a mile, unbelievers were 
converted; and the people who had collected to see 
the experiment began to shout with applause. The 
vessel was named the " Clermont," and made the trip 
from New York to Albany, at the rate of five miles an 
hour, against the wind and tide. As it moved, it sent 




ROBERT FULTON. 



242 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

showers of sparks into the air. The noise of ma- 
chinery and paddles was very great ; and, when it passed 
other vessels, their sailors sometimes hid themselves 
below the deck, and knelt, praying for protection from 
this horrible monster. From this time forward, steam- 
boats rapidly multiplied, were greatly improved, and 
were soon in general use ; though it was not generally 
supposed, for a long time after, that they could safely 
cross the ocean. 




THE "CLERMONT." 



Aaron 
Burr. 



The vice-president under President Jefiferson, at his 
first election, was Aaron Burr, who was one of the 
most brilliant men of that period. He and Jefferson 
had precisely the same number of votes for president ; 
so that the House of Representatives had to decide 
between them, as was the rule ; and, after a great many 
ballotings, Jefferson was chosen president, and Burr 
vice-president. Burr had distinguished himself as a 
soldier and as a statesman ; but he lost most of his 
popularity, after he had killed, in a duel, his political 
rival, Alexander Hamilton, who was much more be- 
loved than himself, and who had performed an im- 
portant part in establishing the government. Through 



SETTLEMENT OF OHIO. 243 

this unpopularity, Burr failed to be re-elected vice-presi- 
dent in Jefferson's second term ; and he was afterwards 
generally believed to have formed a plan to invade 
Mexico, and to separate several States from the Union. 
He was tried for treason on this charge, but was ac- 
quitted ; yet he never again was respected or trusted by 
the people. 

During Jefferson's administration, the State of Ohio owo 
was organized and admitted into the Union, in 1802, ™^ 
making the seventeenth State of the Union. The 
Ohio Valley had been visited by the French as early as 
1680; and it has already been told how they and the 
English had contended for its possession through the 
period of " French and Indian Wars." It was aban- 
doned by the French in 1763, together with all their 
American possessions ; and, after the American Revo- 
lution, the question came up whether the Ohio Valley 
belonged to certain States which claimed it, or to the 
United States Government. Finally it was agreed 
that it should be surrendered to the United States, 
except certain small portions which v/ere reserved by 
different States ; and the main part was then called 
"the North-west Territory." Even after this, there 
were frequent wars with the Indians ; so that the Ohio 
Valley was slowly settled. When it was at last organ- 
ized into a State, it still retained the name of the 
river, "the beautiful river," as the early French ex- 
plorer had called it. 

The State of Ohio had seemed very far west, down The far 
to the time of Jefferson; and a man who had seen that time. 
Lake Michigan or the mouth of the Missouri River 
was considered in those days a great traveller. But 



244 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

an event soon happened which opened the eyes of peO' 
pie to the vast extent of the American Continent and 
to the prospects of the American Union. This was 
the purchase of a vast and unexplored region, stretch- 
ing west from the Mississippi River to the Rocky 
Mountains, if not farther, and called by the name of 
Louisiana. 
Thediscov. T^g history of the discovery of the Mississippi 
Mississippi River is like a romance. It was first reached in 1541, 
as has been already told, by the Spaniards who had 
marched through the forests with De Soto. That 
great leader died, and was buried beneath its waters ; 
and for a century the river was almost forgotten. It 
hardly appeared on the Spanish maps ; and, when men 
spoke of it, they called it " The Unknown River." A 
hundred years after, the French explorers from Canada 
reached the rivers that flow into the Mississippi. 
La Salle, the most daring of them all, after trying 
again and again, — often setting off on his expeditions 
in the dead of winter, travelling on snow-shoes, living 
on buffalo-meat and the flesh of alligators, sometimes 
almost drowned amid floating ice, at other times 
almost killed by starvation and Indian cruelty, — at last 
descended the Illinois to the Mississippi, and floated 
down that stream to the Gulf of Mexico. There, at 
the mouth of the river, in the year 1682, he took pos- 
session of that whole region in the name of the French 
king, Louis XIV. ; named it Louisiana, after him ; and 
set up a column, on which the name of the king was 
inscribed, with the lilies, which were the arms of 
France. 

Almost a hundred years after that (in 1762), the 



LOUISIANA PURCHASE. 245 

French gave up Louisiana to the Spaniards ; and they, Purchase 
forty years after, gave it up to Napoleon Bonaparte, who ana °"^^^ 
sold it during the year 1803, even before he had taken 
possession of it, to President Jefferson, for the United 
States Government. The price paid was fifteen million 
dollars. What is now the State of Louisiana was but a 
little part of the vast territory which then bore that 
name ; for this territory extended from the Mississippi 
to the Rocky Mountains, if not actually to the Pacific 
Ocean, and from the British Possessions on the north, 
to Mexico on the south. The new purchase comprised 
nearly nine hundred thousand square miles (899,579), 
whereas the whole domain of the original thirteen colo- 
nies was not much more than eight hundred thousand 
square miles (820,680). Thus the purchase of what 
was called Louisiana more than doubled the area of the 
national territory. 

When we consider how little explored, even to this The unex- 
day, is much of this great territory west of the Missis- gion west 
sippi, we can imagine what an unknown world it must °sgippi^'^ 
have seemed, seventy years ago, when only its out- 
skirts had been visited by white men. But when Presi- 
dent Jefferson had once secured it for the American 
nation, he was much too energetic to leave it unex- 
plored. He desired to know what the formation cf the 
country was, what great rivers watered it, what its 
animals and plants and minerals were, and, above all, 
what tribes of Indians were to be found there, — 
whether they were disposed to be warlike or peaceful, 
and whether they would sell the title to their lands. 
So the president sent out his private secretary, Capt. 
Meriwether Lewis, together with Capt. W^illiam Clark, 



246 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

Bxpi<jring to coiiduct EH exploring expedition to the Rock) 
tothe'*^°'' Mountains. Tliere were tliirty men in all ; and they 
Rocky carried with them provisions, camp-equipage, fire-arms, 
and presents for the Indian tribes. They left St. Louis, 
which was then a mere trading-post, in the autumn of 
1803, and were gone between two and three years, 
encamping three winters in the wilderness. They 
ascended the Missouri River in boats to the great 
falls, which no white man had then visited ; then 
traced the river to its sources in what were then called 
the Stony Mountains ; and there, finding a rivulet 
flowing toward the west, they followed it until they 
reached the Pacific Ocean. The river they descended 
was one whose mouth had before been visited by a 
Boston trader, Capt. Robert Gray ; and he had named 
it, after one of his vessels, the " Columbia." This Cap- 
tain Gray was the first man to carry the American flag 
round the world by water, as Lewis and Clark were the 
first to carry it across the continent by land. 
The return After reaching the Pacific, the party returned, as- 
pio?ers.^' cending the Columbia River, and crossing the moun- 
tains once more. President Jefferson wrote, in regard 
to their return, " Never did a similar event excite more 
joy throughout the United States. The humblest of 
its citizens had taken a lively interest in the issue of 
the journey, and looked forward with impatience for 
Their the information it would furnish." And indeed the 

report. travellers could tell of many wonders, when their narra- 
tive was published. They told of finding the buffalo so 
abundant, that, in one case, a herd occupied the whole 
breadth of a river a mile wide, and the party had to 
stop for an hour to see the animals pass by. They 



LEWIS AND CLARK S EXPEDITION. 24/ 

described Indian tribes before unknown, — the Man- 
dans, Shoshones, and others. They reported some of 
these tribes as being wretchedly poor and destitute, 
and others as having good houses, excellent guns, and 
such a plenty of horses, that a traveller could at any 
time buy one for a few beads. These Indians knew so 
little of civilized habits, that one chief was very grate- 
ful for some dried squashes, and said that they made 
the best food he had ever tasted, except sugar, of 
which he had once eaten a single lump. He said that 
he should be very happy if he lived in a country that 
produced so many nice things. The white explorers Astoria, 
learned that, by trading with the Indians, they could 
obtain a great supply of valuable furs; and a New 
York merchant, named John Jacob Astor, soon estab- 
lished a trading-post, called Astoria, at the mouth of 
Columbia River. But this post was afterwards sold to 
one of the British fur-companies ; and it was not till 
many years later that any part of the Pacific slope was 
distinctly claimed as being actually a part of the United 
States. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

MADISON AND MONROE, THE WAR OF l8l2, AND THE 
ERA OF GOOD FEELING. 



The fourth 
President. 



Cause of 
of the w^ar 
of 1812. 



THE next president was James Madison, of Virginia. 
He had been a member of the convention that 
had framed the Constitution ; and he served as presi- 
dent for two terms, 
or eight years, — 
from 1809 to 1817. 
When he was in- 
augu rated, he 
found the nation 
involved in dis- 
putes with the Brit- 
ish Government, 
about the right of 
searching Ameri- 
can vessels, and 
the restrictions 
laid on American 
commerce. These 
disputes remained 
unsettled ; and at 
last, June 18, 1812, the Congress of the United States, 
by a large majority, declared war against England. 
248 




JAMES MADISON. 



MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 249 

There was a great deal of opposition to the war, as it opposition 

, , , . 1 •, 1 to the war. 

was thought by many to be quite unnecessary ; and 
many even thought that the offences committed by 
England were not so great as those of France. This 
increased the hostility between the Democrats, who 
favored France, and the Federalists, who liked England 
better ; and at one time some members of this last 
party held a convention at Hartford, Conn., in order to 
oppose the prolongation of the war. 

But the war went on, though at first the American The defeats 
troops were quite unsuccessful. There was an attempt army, 
to conquer Canada ; but General Hull had finally to 
surrender Detroit to the British troops ; and General 
Van Rensselaer was also defeated. The Indians took 
an important part against the Americans in this war, 
under a chief named Tecumseh, who formed a plan to 
unite the various Indian tribes against the whites, as 
had been attempted by Pontiac half a century before. 
Even before the war with England, Tecumseh had led 
his Indians against the Americans, and had been de- 
feated by General Harrison at Tippecanoe ; and this 
made him strive more desperately to unite the Indian 
tribes with the English troops. He took an active part 
in many battles, but was killed at last. 

But while the United States army was rather unsuc- The sue 

, . 1 -inT r cesses of 

cessful, the navy obtamed great honor in the vVar otournavy. 
1812. The frigate " Constitution," under Captain Hull, 
took the British frigate " Guerriere ; " and there were 
other important American successes. On the other 
hand, the British frigate " Shannon " captured the 
United States frigate " Chesapeake," at the mouth of 
Boston harbor ; and the brave Captain Lawrence, the 



250 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The Chesa- 
peake and 
Shannon. 



Perry's 
victory. 



commander of the " Chesapeake," was killed, exclaim- 
ing as he died, " Don't give up the ship ! " Afterwards, 
on Lake Erie, there was a contest (Sept. 10, 1813) 
between a British squadron of six vessels, and an 
American squadron of nine ; these last being under 
command of Lieut. O. H. Perry. His flagship was 
named the " Lawrence," after the brave captain of the 
" Chesapeake " ; and his flag had inscribed upon it 

the dying words of 
Lawrence. But this 
ship was almost de- 
stroyed in the fight; 
and Perry, getting 
into an open boat, 
transferred his flag 
to a second ship, 
and gained the vic- 
tory. When the 
British ships sur- 
rendered. Perry 
wrote to his com- 
manding officer, on 
the back of an old 
letter, "We have 
met the enemy, and 
they are ours." This is said to have been the first 
instance in the history of the British navy of the sur- 
render of an entire squadron. Later in the war, Capt. 
David Porter fought the " Essex " against two British 
vessels, for two hours and a half, and only surrendered 
when his frigate was burning under him. 

The war lasted nearly three years ; and in the last 




LIEUTENANT PERRY. 



BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



251 



year (1814), the British troops took and plundered The third 
many towns on the southern coast, and finally burned the war. 
the Capitol, and the president's house at Washington. 
They also attacked New Orleans, which was defended 
by Gen. Andrew Jackson, with a much smaller force 
than that brought against it. He built breastworks of 
£Otton-bales, and fought from behind them, repulsing 




PEKRY S VICTORY. 



the attacking army of twelve thousand, with the loss 
of but seven Americans killed. This happened Jan. 8, 
181 c, and was the last battle of the war; indeed, the Treaty of 

«J' Ghent. 

treaty of Ghent had been signed a fortnight before 
the battle (Dec. 24, 1814); making peace between the 
two nations, though the news of this peace had not yet 
reached the armies at New Orleans. It is a remark- 



252 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Thirty 
years of 



able fact, that the treaty of Ghent said not a word in 
regard to the right of search on board of American 
vessels, the very thing about which the war had been 
chiefly waged. But the bravery and success of the 
United States navy had virtually settled that dispute ; 
and no further trouble ever arose about it. Thus 
ended the " War of 1812," sometimes called the " Late 
War," between the United States and Great Britain. 
Since that time, in spite of some temporary disagree- 
ments, there has been peace between the two great 
English-speaking nations ; and it is to be hoped that it 
will always continue. 

For a long time after this, the United States seemed 
very peaceful and prosperous. For thirty years there 
was no war ; and the feeling of hostility between 
political parties gradually diminished. The population 
of the country in 18 10 was more than seven millions, 
(7,239,881); and after this it went on increasing more 
rapidly. The new States and Territories of the West 
were being opened for settlement. A great nktional 
road had been built from Cumberland, Md., to Wheel- 
ing, Va. ; and along this road a perpetual stream of 
wagons poured into Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. 
Emigration Other emigrants went westward and southward by the 
new steamboats just introduced on the Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi. Others went on rafts and barges, carrying all 
their household goods with them. The forests still 
covered all Ohio ; and there were almost no roads, so 
that water-communication was the chief dependence. 
A whole neighborhood would unite and build a flat- 
boat to send their produce to New Orleans ; the boat- 
men perhaps walking home again. Other emigrants 



The third 

census, 

1810. 



Monroe's administration. 253 

went round by sea to the distant mouth of the Colum- 
bia River, on the Pacific, where John Jacob Astor had 
estabhshed his trading-post. Then more and more immigra- 
people arrived from Europe. More than twenty-two Europe!" 
thousand came in 18 17, the last year of Madison's 
administration, — twice as many as had arrived during 
the previous year. It seemed an enormous number 
then, though it would seem but a small number now. 
Thus the whole nation was in a state of activity and 
growth. Two new States, Louisiana (1812) and Indi- Louisiana 
ana (18 16), were added to the Union during Madison's Indiana 
administration ; these making nineteen in all. Louisi- a^^"^^"®^- 
ana was formed out of the southern part of the great 
territory purchased from France a few years before. 
This southern part had previously been called "The 
Territory of Orleans ; " but the name of Louisiana was 
the old name that the French had given it in honor of 
Louis, king of France. The name of Indiana came 
from the Indians, who still inhabited that region. 

The next president was James Monroe of Virginia The fifth 
(1817-1825), who had fought in the Revolutionary War, p''^^''*®''*- 
and had been Secretary of State under Madison. His 
administration was often called " the era of good feel- The "era 
ing," because party strife, as well as war, for a time °eef°ig^.. 
had died away. There was, however, much trouble 
with the Seminole Indians in Florida ; for, though 
Florida was not yet a part of the United States, it lay purchase 
just beyond the border of Georgia ; and the Indians ° 
of Florida, many of whom had married fugitive slaves, 
were often committing depredations on the frontier. 
General Jackson in vain endeavored to subdue them, 
and, in the effort to do it, marched his troops into 



254 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Hostility 
betw^een 
the free 
and the 
slave 
States. 



Free States 
and slave 
States ad- 
mitted al- 
ternately. 



Florida, though it was still a Spanish colony. This 
led to a dispute with Spain, which was finally settled 
by a treaty made in 1819, giving Florida to the United 
States, five million dollars being paid for it. This 
made another addition of nearly sixty-seven thousand 
square miles (66,900) to the area of the United States, 
though Florida was not admitted as a separate State 
for many years. 

But in this era of good feeling there was arising a 
cause of trouble far greater than any that had afflicted 
the young nation before. That source of difficulty was 
slavery. Ever since the first shipload of slaves had 
been brought to Virginia, in 16 19, slavery had become 
more and more thoroughly the settled system of thf 
Southern States of the Union; and the Noithern 
States had been more and more disposed to regard it 
as an evil. When the Constitution was formed, it was 
supposed that slavery was a thing that would soon die 
out, and that the main source of dispute would be a 
jealousy between the large and small States of the 
Union. But this proved to be a great mistake; and 
the hostility that arose was between the free and the 
slave States. During Monroe's administration, new 
States were rapidly formed out of the vast unsettled 
region of the West ; and it became a matter of much 
importance whether they should come in with slavery 
or without. For a time it happened that free States 
and slave States came in alternately ; since the " Or- 
dinance of 1787 " excluded slavery from the North- 
western Territory, while the South-western Territories 
had introduced it. Thus, after Indiana, came Missis- 
sippi (in 1817), a free State and a slave State; after 



MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 255 

Illinois (1818), came Alabama (1819), a free State and 
a slave State ; after Maine (1820), came Missouri 
(182 1), a free State and a slave State; all these being 
admitted during Mr. Monroe's administration. But The strug- 
there came a struggle over the admission of this last f^e admis- 
State, Missouri, showing that the era of good feeling ^°^g°^j.j 
had come to an end. The Northern members of Con- 
gress declared that it was wrong and unwise that there 
should be another slave State in the Union. The 
Southern members declared, that as there M^ere many 
such States already, and the Constitution protected 
them, so there must be more of them to preserve the 
balance of power ; and they claimed, that, whenever a 
free State was admitted, a slave State ought properly to 
come in also. Between these two opinions there arose 
a great and angry contest. 

Thus the era of good feeling under Monroe proved The "era 
to be only a calm between two storms. The old feeh°ng" 
political disputes were at an end ; and a new contest e°<*ed. 
about slavery was beginning, — a contest that was 
destined to convulse the land for nearly half a century. 
All the arguments for and against slavery were brought The 
up in the Missouri discussion. It was said that slavery ^fl^^"^^^ 
was inhuman ; that no man could rightfully hold prop- ^^^^^^^ 
erty in his brother-man ; that the relation between 
master and slave was demoralizing to both ; that it was 
a cruel wrong to sell people at auction, and to break up 
families; and that the founders of the Republic, as 
Washington and Jefferson, had opposed slavery, and 
had wished to get rid of it. On the other hand, the 
friends of slavery said, that, even if Washington and 
Jefferson were opposed to it in theory, they, neverthe- 



256 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

less, kept their own slaves ; that the Constitution recog- 
nized and defended slavery ; that it was the best con- 
dition for the colored people ; that white men could 
not work out of doors in hot climates ; and that cotton 
and sugar could be raised in no other way. There 
was great excitement over the dispute ; and finally it 
The Mis- eudcd iu a compromise. It was agreed by Congress 

aouri com- i o 1 

promise. that Missouri should come in as a slave State, but that 
slavery should be elsewhere prohibited in new States 
north of 36° 30' north latitude ; this being the line of 
the southern border of Missouri. South of this, the 
people of each new State might have slavery or not, 
as they might prefer. This was the famous "Missouri 
Compromise" of 1820. Like compromises of principle 
generally, it only postponed the evil day. At the time 
of that agreement, slavery was comparatively weak, and 
might have been abolished, or at least restricted by the 
nation. By letting it grow, it was allowed to reach 
such power, that it required for its abolition a great 
civil war, and the lives of many thousand men. 

Visit of La gj-in [i ^r^g supposcd, for a time, that the slavery 

Fayette. . 1 r 5 j ^ ^ j 

question had been finally settled by this compromise ; 
and there were other questions, about tariffs and banks, 
that were generally considered much more important. 
When General La Fayette came from France to revisit 
the young nation for whose freedom he had fought, 
everybody greeted him with enthusiasm ; and the nation 
seemed quiet and at peace. This was just before Mr. 
Monroe retired from office. 
The five j^g igfj- ^i^g nation with five new States added to the 

states 

admitted. Union, as has already been said. Of these, Illinois 
had been previously a part of Indiana ; and the word 



GROWTH OF THE NATION. 



257 



" Illinois " was the name of an Indian tribe, and meant 
"The Men." Mississippi and Alabama were both made 
out of the old Mississippi Territory, which also took 
its name from a river ; the Indian word meaning "The 



Great River." The words 
were both taken 
from rivers ; the 
latter name mean- 
ing " Muddy Wa- 
ters." All these 
States had been 
originally ex- 
plored and settled 
by the French. 
As for the State 



of Maine, it was 
formed out of 
Massachusetts, of 
which it had been 
a district ; and it 
is generally sup- 
posed to have 
been named in 
honor of Henri- 



' Alabama " and " Missouri " 




GENERAL LA FAYETTE. 

etta Maria, queen of Charles I., who owned the prov- 
ince of Maine, in France. Others think that this name 
was given because it was the mainland, as distinguished 
from the num.erous islands along the coast. These new 
States made the number twenty-four in all, — almost 
twice as many as "the old thirteen." At the census taken The fourti- 
in 1820, the population of the United States was about ''^°^''^' 
nine and a half millions (9,638,453). 



258 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

The"Mon- Monroc's administration had expressed great sym- 
trine." pathy for the new republics formed in South America, 
and had announced the opinion that the United States 
should thenceforward never allow any European gov- 
ernment to plant a colony on the soil of North or 
South America, or to interfere in American affairs, but 
that the people of the different parts of the continent 
should govern themselves. This has always been called 
"the Monroe doctrine," and is considered one of the 
most important results of this president's administra- 
tion. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

ADAMS AND JACKSON. INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 

NULLIFICATION AND THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS of Massachusetts was the The sixth 
next president, serving one term, — from 1825 to ^^®^^^®"* 
1529. All the previous presidents had taken part in 
the Revolutionary War, or in founding the government ; 
but John Quincy 
Adams belonged to 
a younger genera- 
tion, and had been 
but nine years old 
when his father had 
signed the Decla- 
ration of Indepen- 
dence, and when he 
himself had heard 
it read from the 
State House in Bos- 
ton. Since then, 
the young nation 
had freed and es- 
tablished itself, had 

widened its bounds, and was now at peace, 
administration of Mr. Adams, much was done to open 

259 




JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 



During the 



260 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

Opening of the mtcrior of the country for settlement. Almost all 
o/the ^"°^ the Indian tribes had been removed west of the Mis- 
setuemenT sissippi ; and their lands had been bought by the gov- 
ernment. A great system of canals had been begun, 
affording better means of communication than any that 
had before existed. Chief among these was the Erie 
Canal, which connected Lake Erie with the harbor of 
New York. It was completed in 1825 ; and Gov. De 
Witt Clinton of New York, who had planned it, and 
had himself dug the first spadeful of earth, was con- 
veyed the whole distance in a barge, amid the ringing 
of bells and the discharge of cannon. After this, pop- 
ulation poured rapidly into the interior of New York 
State ; and, wherever canals were built, towns and vil- 
lages grew up. 
The first It vvas durlug Mr. Adams's presidency, moreover, 

America, that thc first railroad in America was built, in 1827,— 




EARLY RAILROAD TRAIN. 



a road of three miles only, leading from the granite 
quarries to the wharves at Quincy, Mass. The cars 
were drawn by horses ; and the first locomotive engine 
was not used until two years later, when it was imported 
from England, where such engines had only just been 
introduced. This first engine only averaged about four- 
teen miles an hour, and was regarded as a great curios- 
ity. Many people predicted in America, as they had in 



INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 26l 

England, that it would never be able to move its own 
weight, but that the wheels would spin round and round 
upon the rail. Others thought, that, if it succeeded, it 
would destroy the value of farming-lands by frightening 
all the animals, and would stop the raising of sheep, 
because their wool would be so blackened by the 
smoke. They were very much surprised when they saw 
locomotives running peaceably, and without causing any 
of these disasters. 

During John Quincy Adams's administration, his Death of 
father, Ex-President John Adams, died ; and Ex-Presi- and^f 
dent Jefferson died on the same day. As they had J^^^^'so"- 
grown older, these two eminent statesmen had become 
friends, and had outlived all the disputes between 
Federalist and Democrat. They used constantly to 
write friendly letters to each other; and, by a sin- 
gular coincidence, the day on which they died was 
July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration 
of Independence, which they both had signed. The 
last words said by Jefferson were, " Is this the Fourth ? " 
and the last words of Adams were thought to be, 
" Thomas Jefferson still lives." A patriotic celebration 
was being held in the village where Mr. Adams lived ; 
and he had sent to it a toast : " Independence forever." 
As he lay dying, at sunset time, those who watched by 
his bed could hear the distant shouting at the village, 
when the people had heard the old man's last message. 

One public question, about which there w^as great Protective 
difference of opinion at that time, was in regard to the 
amount of duty to be placed on goods imported from 
foreign countries. Such a system of duties is called 
a " tariff ; " and there is a difference of opinion in 



262 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The 

seventh 

President. 



America to this day about it. There are those who 
think that a high tariff, or duty, should be put on cer- 
tain manufactured goods, in order to keep out foreign 
goods, and protect American manufactures. There are 
others who think that trade should be entirely free, and 
that there should be no duties or custom-houses at all. 
Between these, there are people of all shades of 
opinion, even now, as there were in Mr. Adams's time. 
But he favored a higher tariff than his opponent ; and 
this was one chief reason why he failed of re-election 
after his first term of office. 

Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, was the next presi- 
dent, serving two terms, — from 1829 to 1837. He had 

been well known 
as an army officer, 
from the time when 
he built up the cot- 
ton breastworks at 
New Orleans, and 
repulsed the British 
army by firing from 
behind them. He 
was a man of great 
courage, honesty, 
and energy, thougli 
somewhat narrow 
-and violent. While 
he was president, 
there grew up much 
discontent in the 




ANDREW JACKSON. 



Mulliflca- 
tion. 



Southern States with regard to the tariff. In South Car- 
olina especially, it was thought that the duties imposed 



NULLIFICATION IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 263 

were altogether too favorable to Northern manufactu- convention 

rers ; and finally a conve-'ition was held in the State, in ca?ouna. 

1832, to plan secession from the Union. It was decided 

that no duties should be paid in South Carolina after a 

certain day ; and that, if the United States Government 

attempted to enforce such payment, South Carolina 

should organize a separate government. At the head 

of this organization was to be placed Mr. Calhoun, the 

vice-president of the United States. Medals were made 

with the inscription, ''John C. Calhoun, First President 

of the Southern Confederacy." Blue cockades were 

worn in the streets, with a button in the centre, bearing 

a palmetto, a symbol chosen for the new nation. All 

this was called " nullification." Preparation for armed 

resistance was also made. But President Jackson issued 

a proclamation announcing, " to say that any State may 

at pleasure secede from the Union is to say that the 

United States are not a nation." At the same time, 

additional troops and vessels of war were quickly sent 

to South Carolina, and placed under the command of 

Gen. Winfield Scott ; and, soon after, Congress passed 

a law for a gradual reduction of the duties of which 

South Carolina complained. After this the threats of 

South Carolina were withdrawn ; and the danger of civil 

war for that time passed by. 

During President Jackson's term of office, several seminoie 
of the remaining Indian tribes were removed west of '^^^' 
the Mississippi, including the Sacs and Foxes, the 
Chickasaws and Choctaws. But the Seminoles in 
Florida refused to remove ; and a war was carried on 
with them for a long time in the swamps of that region, 
— the "Everglades" as they are called. Many fugitive 



264 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

slaves had escaped to these swamps, and had intermar- 
ried with the Indians. These slaves and their children 
were called Maroons. The principal Indian chief, a 
half-breed named Osceola, had a Maroon wife, born in 
the Everglades ; and once, when she went with him to 
one of the United States forts, she was seized as a 
slave by the former owner of her mother. Osceola 
was placed in irons while she was taken away into 
captivity : and, after his release, he pledged himself to 
vengeance against the whites. He was accordingly the 
leader of the Indians in war, till he was treacherously 
seized under a flag of truce ; and he was then confined 
in a fort until his death. The war was continued 
for many years, at a great cost of money and life, until 
the tribe was almost extinct; but the expense of the 
conte'st had been more than three times as much as 
had been paid to the Spanish Government for the 
whole of Florida. 
Anti- This Florida war, having been waged largely against 

pubiiea- fugitive slaves, only increased the excitement on the 
question of slavery. During General Jackson's admin- 
istration, a man named Benjamin Lundy, a Quaker, 
began a newspaper, called " The Genius of Universal 
Emancipation," urging that the slaves should be gradu- 
ally freed. This did not attract much attention ; but 
in 183 1 a young man named William Lloyd Garrison, 
who had been Lundy's assistant editor, established a 
weekly paper in Boston, called " The Liberator," whose 
open aim was immediate, unconditional emancipation. 
This made a great excitement all over the country. 
The legislature of Georgia offered five thousand dollars 
for the head of Garrison ; and the governor of Massa- 



tions. 



THE ANTISLAVERY MOVEMENT. 265 

chusetts (Edward Everett) expressed in his annual mes- 
sage the opinion that the aboHtionists might be prose- 
cuted in the courts. Mr. Garrison had, however, said, 
in his paper, " I will not equivocate ; I will not excuse; 
I will not retreat a single inch ; and I will be heard." 
The excitement was much increased by an insurrection siave 
that took place in Virginia, headed by a slave named ^on 1^° 
Nat Turner, who, with a band of associates, went from Virginia, 
house to house, putting whole families to death. Mr. 
Garrison was opposed to this, and to all war and to 
all bloodshed ; but the insurrection was, nevertheless, 
attributed to his teachings. Turner was at last arrested, 
tried, and executed. After this, the New England Anti- New 
slavery Society, which was founded by Garrison in 1832, Anti-^" 
exerted more and more influence. Other societies were ?^^^^®^y 

Society. 

founded in different parts of the country. To resist all 
such agitation, President Jackson urged Congress to 
pass a law excluding antislavery publications from the 
mails ; but the bill was finally defeated. 

President Jackson was made popular with many peo- popular 
pie by the energy and firmness he had shown in several JJ'ar acts^ 
cases, especially in his first dealings with South Caro- of Jackson 
lina, and in preventing, by his veto, the establishment 
of a national bank, to which his party was much opposed. 
He was, however, much disliked by many, for these same 
acts ; and there was much party excitement while he was 
in power. He also made himself unpopular by remov- 
ing from office, in many cases, those opposed to his 
administration, and appointing his political supporters 
to the places thus left vacant. This practice had never 
before existed on any large scale ; but it has, unfortu- 
nately, continued ever since. The nation was, however, 



266 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The sur- 
plus of 
revenue. 

The fifth 

census, 

18.SO. 



Arkansas 
and 

Michigan 
admitted. 



prosperous, and out of debt; and indeed there was a 
surplus of revenue, so that there was a sum of money to 
be distributed among the States. The census taken in 
1830, under Jackson's administration, showed a popu- 
lation of nearly thirteen millions (12,866,020), — more 
than three times what it had been during the presi- 
dency of Washington. Under Jackson, moreover, two 
new States were added to the Union, — Arkansas (1836), 
formed from a portion of the great Louisiana purchase, 
and named for a tribe of Indians now extinct; and 
Michigan (1837), iiamed from Indian words meaning 
"great lake." Michigan was formed from a part of 
the old North-west Territory, early explored and settled 
by the French ; and, as slavery had been prohibited in 
all that territory by the " Ordinance of 1787," Michi- 
gan came in as a free State ; but Arkansas came in as 
a slave State. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

VAN BUREN, HARRISON, TYLER, AND THE ANNEXATION 
OF TEXAS. 



THE next President was Martin Van Buren of New The eighth 
York (1837-1841). Like General Jackson before P^-^^^d^^*- 
him, he was the candidate of the Democratic party, 
which differed from the Whig party, as the opposition 
party was now called, 
mainly in insisting 
more on the rights of 
the separate States, 
and less -on those of 
the General Govern- 
ment. During Mr. 
Van Buren's admin- 
istration there was 
great excitement on 
the Canadian fron- 
tier, because of a re- 
bellion against the 
British Government 
in Canada. Many 

people in the States martin van buren. 

bordering on Canada sympathized with this rebellion ; 
but the American Government discouraged all active 
assistance, as being contrary to international law. The 
rebellion was finally subdued. 

267 




268 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

Anti- But there was an excitement which kept on increas- 

agitation, i^g in the United States during ali President Van 
Buren's time, and was far more important than the 
Canadian rebellion. This was the antislavery agitation 
which grew steadily greater, and was often resisted by \ 
mobs and violence, even in the free States. A slave 
child named Med, who had been brought by her master 
into Boston, was declared free by the Supreme Court of 
the State, as not being a fugitive ; and several similar 
triumphs were obtained. On the other hand, a meet- 
ing of the Boston Female Antislavery Society was 
broken up by a mob, while the mayor declared himself 
unable to protect it ; and Mr. Garrison, who had at- 
tempted to address the society, was dragged through 
the streets with a rope round his body, and was finally 
saved by the police, who lodged him in jail for protec- 
tion. A public hall in Philadelphia, called Pennsyl- 
vania Hall, where the national convention of antislr.very 
women had met, was burned. Schools for colored chil- 
dren in New Hampshire and Connecticut were broken 
up. At Alton, III, Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy, who edited 
an antislavery newspaper, was killed by a mob. In 
Proposition Congrcss, a plan was brought forward for the annexa- 

to annex • r i-n 

Texas. tion ot Icxas, thcu an independent Republic; and, as 
it was seen that this measure would have the effect of 
strengthening slavery, petitions were poured into Con- 
gress by the thousand, many of them signed by women, 
against it. Great efforts were made to exclude these 
petitions ; and Ex-President John Quincy Adams spoke 
an hour a day, for twelve days, amid constant inter- 
ruptions, in behalf of the petitioners. The annexation 
of Texas was for the time defeated ; but a rule was 



TIPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO. 269 

adopted by Congress, and for ten years remained in 
force, excluding all petitions on any subject pertaining 
to slavery. 

While Mr. Van Buren was president, there was great crisis of 

• , 1- 11 r M 1837. 

commercial distress, and there were many failures 
among men of business ; and this was one great reason 
why he was not re-elected, but was defeated after his 
first term. No new States were added during his 
administration ; but when the census was taken (in The sixth 
1840) it was found that the population of the country i84o. "' 
had increased to seventeen millions (17,069,453), — 
more than four times the population of Washington's 
time. 

The general discontent of the nation over business The ninth 
troubles, during Mr, Van Buren's administration, led to p'"®^'**®''*- 
a great excitement as to the choice of his successor. 
Gen. William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, who had fought 
Tecumseh and his Indians bravely thirty years before, 
was nominated for president by the Whigs. As he came 
from what was then the Far West, some one gave him 
the name of "The Log-Cabin Candidate; " and all over 
the country log-cabins were soon built for political 
meetings ; and there were political celebrations, at which 
cider was the only beverage, this being a favorite drink 
among farmers. There were many songs composed 
and sung at these gatherings, — songs about "the hero 
of Tippecanoe" and about "Tippecanoe and Tyler 
too ; " John Tyler being the candidate for vice-presi- 
dent. In short, it was the liveliest political campaign 
that had ever been known ; and the end of it was the 
election, by an overwhelming vote, of General Harrison, 
who was inaugurated president in 1841. 



2/0 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The tenth 
president. 



The North- 
eastern 
boundary- 
question. 



The " Dorr 
War." 



Anti-rent 
troubles. 



The 
Mormons. 



General Harrison lived precisely a month after his 
inauguration ; and Vice-President John Tyler, of Vir- 
ginia, became president for the remainder of the four 
years (1841-1845). During his administration, the 
nation was at peace with foreign countries, though war 
was at one time threatened between the United States . 
and Great Britain, because of a dispute about the 
boundary-line between Maine and New Brunswick. A 
treaty was at last made (in 1842), by Lord Ashburton 
in behalf of England, and by Daniel Webster for 
America ; and this settled the question of the boundary. 
Then there were internal troubles in several of the 
States. In Rhode Island (in 1842), there was a revolt 
against the old colonial charter under which the State 
had always been governed ; and, after a brief militar}' 
contest known as the " Dorr War," the rebellion was 
defeated, though a new constitution was adopted at 
last, in consequence of it. In New York, along the 
Hudson River, where the estates of the old Dutch 
"patroons " lay, the tenants who occupied these estates 
grew unwilling to pay rent to the descendants of the 
early proprietors, and there was armed resistance for a 
time. There was also much disturbance in Illinois, 
where the religious sect called the " Mormons," or 
" Latter-Day Saints," who had built a city named Nau^ 
voo, were assailed repeatedly by mobs. The Mormon 
sect had been founded fourteen years before, by a man 
named Joseph Smith, who claimed to have discovered 
a book, called "The Book of Mormon," written on gold 
plates that were found buried in the earth. The Mor 
mons first established themselves in Missouri, were 
driven thence by mob violence to Illinois, and thence 



ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. 2/ 1 

to the Territory of Utah, where they made for them- 
selves a settlement in the wilderness, and still remain. 

One new State was admitted into the Union dur- Florida 
ing Mr. Tyler's administration, — Florida. As has ^'*°'^"^*' 
already been told, Florida contained older European 
settlements than any part of the nation to which it 
was annexed ; St. Augustine even dating back to the 
early Spanish colony of 1565. Florida had been 
alternately claimed by the Spaniards, the French, and 
the English, and had been finally ceded by Spain to 
the United States in 1819. For many years it was gov- 
erned only as a Territory; but in 1845 it was admitted 
as a State. Its name came from the day on which it 
was first explored, Easter Sunday, called by the Span- 
iards Pascua Florida, or Flowery Easter. 

But Mr. Tyler's administration will be chiefly remem- Eariy his^ 
bered as having brought about the annexation to the iTxas. 
United States of a foreign State, — the State of Texas. 
Texas had been first explored by La Salle in 1684. 
when looking for the mouth of the Mississippi. From 
that time forth, it had been almost constantly the scene 
of war between hostile claimants. First the Spaniards 
and French contested for it, and established rival 
'' missions," or religions settlements. Then the large 
province of Texas revolted from Mexico, and declared 
itself an independent State. Many Americans took sympathy 

... 1 . 1 1 r rr-. c for Texas 

part m obtammg the mdependence or lexas; tor sev-inthe 
eral large American colonies had been established ^^g^"^„ 
there, and these Americans had carried their slaves states, 
with them ; whereas Mexico had before abolished 
slavery. Thus there was much sympathy for Texas in 
the South-western States of the American Union ; and 



272 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

there was a strong desire to annex it to the United 
Opposition States. On the other hand, the free States were gen- 
nexation. crally much opposed to its admission, as it was frankly 
admitted by Mr. Calhoun, the great leader of the pro- 
slavery party, that the object of the measure was " to 
uphold the interests of slavery, extend its influence, 
and secure its permanent duration." This seemed 
very likely to prove true, because Texas was an im- 
mense region, including three hundred and eighteen 
thousand square miles, and being thus one-third as large 
as the original thirteen States combined, forty times as 
large as Massachusetts, and more than twice as large 
as the great States of New York, Pennsylvania, and 
Ohio put together. If, now, all this were to be ad- 
mitted as slave territory, it seemed as if freedom would 
be entirely outvoted in the government forever. This 
accounts for the great opposition that was made to 
the annexation of Texas, which, however, finally took 
place at the end of Mr. Tyler's administration. A 
The annex- joint rcsolutiott for this purpose passed the United 
States House of Representatives Feb. 25, 1845, ^-"^ 
the United States Senate March i ; and it was approved 
by the president on the very day it passed the Senate, 
— three days before he went out of office. A great 
territory was thus added to the nation, in return for 
which the United States assumed the Texas debt of 
seven and a half million dollars. This seemed to many 
people at that time to be a great sum to pay for a very 
doubtful advantage ; and it was often said that the word 
" Texas " was only " Taxes " with the letters differently 
arranged. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



POLK AND THE MEXICAN WAR. 



J 



f AMES K. POLK of Tennessee was President of the The 
United States for the next four years (1845-1849) ; Jr^eltdent 
and the report of his nomination was the first news 
ever transmitted by telegraph in America, being sent on 
the new fine which Professor Morse had just completed 
between Washington and Baltimore. Mr. Polk was the 
canditate of the Democratic party ; and he was opposed 
by the Whig party and the new party called the " Lib- 
erty " party, which was formed to resist the influence of 
slavery. Mr. Polk's election turned mainly on the ques- 
tion of the annexation of Texas, though this was finally 
settled just before he came into power. There was 
also a question, which, for a time, caused much anxiety, 
as to the possession of Oregon. 

The American Government had made claim to The north. 

J 'W'estern 

Oregon, because an American captam had discovered boundary 
the Columbia River, and an American expedition, '^'^^^^'°'^- 
Lewis and Clark's, had explored it. But that whole 
region had been practically under control of the 
British fur companies ; and, though many Americans 
had settled there, it had always been disputed territory. 
In 1846, however, under President Polk, a treaty was 
made which divided this great region. The United 

273 



2/4 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

States had claimed as far north as 54° 40' north lati- 
tude ; and " Fifty-four forty, or fight," was a favorite 
electioneering motto in the presidential campaign. But 
it was finally agreed that the line should be drawn at 
49°. All north of this was given to Great Britain ; and 
all south, including more than three hundred thousand 
(308,052) square miles, to the United States. Thus the 
western boundary question was peacefully settled, as 
the north-eastern boundary question had been settled 
just before ; and this did much credit to Mr. Polk's 
administration, and gave satisfaction to almost all. 
Outbreak But the Other great event of Mr. Polk's administra- 
i°can War. ' tion was Something about which people were not at all 
agreed, and which many, especially in the Northern 
States, regarded as a great calamity, — the Mexican 
War. When the United States had annexed Texas, 
the nation found that it had still another question of 
boundary on its hands, Texas claimed that its western 
boundary was the Rio Grande, and Mexico claimed that 
it was the River Nueces ; and, as these rivers were a 
hundred miles apart, there was a wide range of disputed 
territory between. The United States took up the cause 
of Texas ; and General Taylor was sent to the disputed 
ground with a small army. The Mexicans, also, sent 
troops thither ; and fighting soon began, first in a small 
way, then in some larger battles, at Palo Alto and 
Resaca de la Palma, in which the Americans were suc- 
cessful. Then General Taylor crossed the Rio Grande, 
and took Matamoras, which was within undisputed 
Mexican territory. 
Action of There was much excitement in Washington on hear- 
ongress. .^^ ^j^.^ ncws. Congress voted thus, May 11, 1846: 



THE MEXICAN WAR. 



275 



"By the act of the Republic of Mexico, war exists 
between that government and the United States ; " 
though the Whig members declared that the war was 
not really begun by Mexico, but by General Taylor. 
Congress also voted ten million dollars for the war, and 
resolved to raise fifty thousand volunteers. There was Taylor's 
not much sympathy for the w^ar in the Eastern States ; ^^"^p^^^" 
but the South-western States, which were nearest the 
scene of excitement, sent many volunteers to the aid of 
General Taylor. At last his army reached nearly 
seven thousand men ; and with this he took, in three 
days, the fortified town of Monterey, garrisoned by ten 
thousand Mexi- 
cans. Then Gen- 
eral Santa Anna, 
who had formerly 
been President of 
Mexico, and was 
regarded as the 
best soldier of that 
Republic, took 
command of the 
Mexican army, but 
was beaten by 
General Taylor, 
with a much small- 
er force, at Buena 
Vista. Then Gen- 
eral Scott was 
sent, with an addi- 
tional army, to attack the principal port and fortress of scott's 
Mexico, Vera Cruz, with the hope of thus penetrating to ^*°^p^^s'' 




GENERAL SCOTT. 



276 



Bombard- 
ment of 
Vera Cruz. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

the capital of the country, and " conquering a peace." 
He accordingly, with twelve thousand men, bombarded 
Vera Cruz ; and it was surrendered, with the fortress of 
San Juan d'UUoa, the strongest fortress on the conti- 
nent, except that of Quebec. A fleet under Commodore 
Matthew C. Perry also assisted in this attack. Then 
the American army advanced toward the capital, over- 




BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. — REPULSE OF MEXICAN LANCERS. 



coming all difficulties, and winning a series of daring 
victories on the way, always against great superiority of 
numbers. Among these battles were those of Cerro 
Gordo, Churubusco, El Molino del Rey, and Chapul- 
tepec ; and the Americans finally took possession of 
Occupation the city of Mexico, Sept. 14, 1847. I^ was a city of 
of Mexico, a hundred and forty thousand inhabitants; and the 



END OF THE WAR. 2/7 

army that entered it consisted of less than six thousand 
men. 

Meanwhile the Mexican provinces were beinoj at- attack on 

. . , Mexican 

tacked in several different directions. Gen. Stephen provinces 
Kearney marched into New Mexico, and Colonel Doni- 
phan, into Chihuahua ; and their small forces took pos- 
session of those provinces. Capt. J. C. Fremont, who was 
exploring California with only sixty men, became aware 
of apian of making California into an independent State, 
such as Texas had been ; and he found certain Ameri- 
can settlers in the Sacramento Valley already enlisted 
in this effort. They had raised over their camp a flag, 
bearing the figure of a bear, to represent independent 
California ; but, on hearing that an American fleet had 
taken Morvterey, on the seacoast, he raised the Ameri- 
can flag instead. After a series of fights with Mexican 
troops, and with the aid of Commodore Stockton and 
a naval force, he took possession of California in order 
that it might become a part of the United States. At Treaty of 
last a treaty was made with Mexico, by which Mexico Hidaig^o.^^ 
gave up New Mexico and Upper California to the 
United States, and agreed to accept the Rio Grande as 
the boundary between herself and Texas. The terri- 
tory thus added to the United States was more than 
half a million (522,955) square miles. In return, the 
United States agreed to pay Mexico fifteen millions of 
dollars, and to assume the debts due citizens of the 
United States from Mexico, amounting to three and a 
half millions besides. The treaty by which all this was 
accomplished was called the " Treaty of Guadalupe 
Hidalgo," from the city where it was made. It was 
signed Feb. 2, 1848, and was ratified by Congress 



T.yS YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

March lo of the same year. Thus the Mexican War 
closed in two years from its beginning. 
Discovery Nobody knew, when this treaty was made, how great 
California, was the valuc of the territory thus gained. CaUfornia 
had been known only as a distant region, whither men 
went by sea, around Cape Horn, to buy hides and 
furs. But in 1848 there came rumors to the Eastern 
States of gold mines on the Sacramento River, in 
California, which promised to be richer than any in the 
world. It was said that a laborer in the employ of 
Captain Sutter, a Swiss settler in the Sacramento 
Valley, had found in the sand some glittering particles, 
which turned out to be gold. Then there was a sud- 
den and eager emigration to that region from all parts 
of the Union ; and in the very first year the mines 
yielded four million dollars' worth of gold. Within two 
years San Francisco contained fifteen thousand inhab- 
itants. The name of California is supposed to have 
been taken from an old Spanish romance, in which the 
name was given to an imaginary island filled with gold; 
and the early explorer, Cortes, when he visited the 
western coast of the continent, applied that name to the 
whole region long before any gold was actually found 
there. 
Texas, Duriug Mr. Polk's administration three more States 

wllconSn were admitted to the American Union, making thirty 
in all. These were Texas, Iowa, and Wisconsin ; the 
names of all three being taken from Indian tribes or 
rivers. Texas was admitted as a State in 1845 5 ^^^ 
the same antislavery feeling that had resisted its 
annexation was revived to resist its admission as a 
State, but unsuccessfully. Then came Iowa (1846), 



admitted. 



THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 279 

which was made out of a part of the great Louisiana 
purchase, and Wisconsin (1848), which had been a part 
of the old " North-west territory " originally belonging 
to the United States. Both these last were free States ; Thewiimot 
and it became plainer and plainer that the multitude of p''°^^^°- 
foreign immigrants would always prefer free territory to 
slave territory, and that the free States would inevitably 
grow faster than the others. This made the slavehold- 
ing States still more desirous to secure more States of 
their own description, wherever it was possible ; and 
when, at the close of the Mexican War, a great extent 
of nevv^ territory was acquired, great efforts were made 
on both sides to secure control of it. For this purpose 
Mr. Wilmot of Pennsylvania introduced into Congress 
a measure, commonly called the " Wilmot Proviso," 
absolutely excluding slavery from the whole of the new 
acquisitions. It was long discussed, and finally de- 
feated ; but the agitation led to the formation of a new The 
party, whose object was to oppose the extension of pjrty^^"'^ 
slavery. It was called the " Freesoil " party, and took 
the place of the old Liberty party. Under its new 
name it took an active part in the next presidential 
election, and at a later period, under the name of the 
" Republican " party, obtained the control of the gov- 
ernment. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE APPROACH OF THE CIVIL WAR. 
TAYLOR, FILLMORE, AND PIERCE. 

"^^^idLnf^ A ^ ^^^ "^'^^ presidential election, the Whig party^ 
-^~~^ which had opposed the Mexican War, thought it 
best to nominate for president the most successful 
general of the war, Zachary Taylor, of Louisiana. He 
had been popular with his soldiers, and had been 
named by them "Old Rough and Ready." He was 
opposed by the Democratic party and by the new 
"Freesoil" party, but was elected, and was inaugurated 

The March k, 1840. He died a little more than a year after- 

thirteenth ^ y J 

president, wards, July 9, 1850 ; and Vice-President Millard Fill- 
more, of New York, became president for the remainder 
of that presidential term, 1850-1853. 
Clay's The antislavery strusfgle had now risen to be the 

"Omnibus . , ®° 

Biu." chief question before Congress ; and an attempt was 

made by Henry Clay, of Kentucky, a very eloquent 
and persuasive orator, to settle it forever by a series of 
what were called " Compromise Measures." One of 
the principal measures was the admission of California 
as a free State. Another was the abolition of the 
slave-trade in the District of Columbia. These were 
adopted, and were regarded as concessions in favoi 
280 



FUGITIVE SLAVE LAW. 28 1 

of freedom. On the other hand, to balance these, a 
bill was introduced, called the Fugitive Slave Law, 
giving the owners of slaves the opportunity to recapture 
their escaped slaves in any part of the free States, 
and to carry them back without trial by jury. This was 
considered by many to be unconstitutional, as well as 
inhuman. It was opposed and denounced by the 
leading antislavery orators, such as Charles Sumner, 
Horace Mann, Wendell Phillips, and Theodore Parker; 
but it was supported by leading Northern statesmen, 
such as Daniel Webster; and it became a law, Sept. 
i8, 1850. 

This law produced more excitement than anything opposition 
that had before happened during the antislavery agita- fugitive 
tion. In Syracuse, N. Y., a fugitive named Jerry was ^^^'^^ ^^^• 
rescued by force from the government officers : in Bos- 
ton one named Shadrach was rescued ; and an attempt 
was made to rescue another, named Anthony Burns. 
One man was killed in this last attempt ; and troops 
were ordered out to aid in the surrender of the alleged 
slave. In Ohio a fugitive woman, named Margaret 
Garner, killed two of her own children to save them 
from being carried into slavery. In several of the 
States, laws were framed to restrict or defeat the opera- 
tion of the Fugitive Slave Law, and to secure at least a 
jury trial for those claimed as slaves. 

These compromise measures foriAed the most im- California 

f. .T.^_,.,, , ,., . T admitted. 

portant leature of Mr. Fillmore s administration, in 
other respects his term of office was a peaceful one. 
One new State was admitted during this time : it was 
formed, in 1850, out of the territory purchased at the 
close of the Mexican War, and was named California ; 



282 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Two new 
territories 
organized. 



Census 
of 1850. 



The 

fourteenth 

president. 



The Kan- 
sas-Ne- 
braska Bill 
overthrcws 
the Mis- 
souri Com- 
promise. 



Emigration 
to Kansas. 



thus perpetuating the old Spanish name. The two Ter- 
ritories of New Mexico and Utah were also organized 
out of the same purchase. New Mexico was inhabited 
chiefly by a population of Spanish origin ; and Utah 
had been settled by the religious sect called Mormons, 
whose leader, Brigham Young, was cooimissioned by 
the president as governor of the Territory. By the 
census of 1850 the population of the whole nation was 
about twenty-three millions (23,191,876). 

Mr. Fillmore had been elected as a Whig ; though 
the antislavery agitation was fast destroying old party 
lines. His successor, Franklin Pierce, of New Hamp- 
shire (1853-1857), was a Democrat. During his term 
the same agitation was further increased by the efforts 
of the friends of slavery to overthrow the Missouri Com- 
promise, as it was called ; a law which had been passed 
in 1820, prohibiting slavery north of a certain line in 
that great domain which had been bought under the 
name of Louisiana. It was now proposed to organize 
out of that region, from which slavery had been thus 
excluded, two new Territories, to be named Kansas and 
Nebraska, and to let the inhabitants determine for them- 
selves whether they should establish slavery or free- 
dom. This change of policy was strongly resisted by 
the antislavery party, and more than three thousand of 
the New England clergy petitioned Congress against it ; 
but it was finally passed. May 30, 1854. 

As this law left it to the settlers to decide upon their 
institutions, it was considered important both by the 
friends and the opponents of slavery to encourage emi- 
gration to the new Territories. Parties were therefore 
organized for this purpose in various parts of the Union. 



BORDER RUFFIANISM. 



283 



Those from the free States generally went as permanent 
settlers, with their families ; but many went in from the 
slave States, merely to take part in the disturbances, 
and aid in establishing slavery. This was especially The border 
the case with a class of Missourians, who could at any 
time cross the Kansas border, commit depredations, 
vote at elections, and then retreat across the border, 
undisturbed. These invaders were commonly called 
" Border Ruffians." At one time they stopped the navi- 
gation of the Missouri River for all free State settlers, 
compelling all these to take a tedious overland journey 




EMIGRANTS CROSSING THE PLAINS. 



through Iowa. The United States officials supported, 
sometimes the one party, and sometimes the other, 
finally inclining towards the slaveholders ; while gov- 
ernor after governor were sent from Washington, and 
resigned in despair. Two separate governments were 
organized by the settlers, and two separate codes of The strug 

<=> -I ' •- gle in 

law adopted. Actual fighting began at last. The Kansas, 
free State military leaders — Lane, Montgomery, and 
others — organized bands to defend their settlements ; 
and Capt. John Brown took an especially daring part 
in the defence. At Ossawattomie, for instance, he 
defended himself, with sixteen men, against several 



284 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The Gads- 
den 
purchase. 



Treaty of 
JapaH. 



hundred marauders from Missouri; his Httle band 
killing and wounding more than four times their own 
number, and losing but two men. The same invaders 
sacked and burned the flourishing village of Lawrence, 
lately settled by men from Massachusetts. Many fami- 
lies in Kansas were reduced to poverty during this 
period, or lived by taking horses and cattle belonging; 
to those of the other party ; so that men would speak of i 
a proslavery horse or an antislavery cow, according as 
the owner of these animals belonged to either side. At 
last the establishment of freedom was secured in 
Nebraska and Kansas, but at a great cost of suffering 
and hatred. 

A more peaceful event of President Pierce's admin- 
istration was a purchase of territory called the "Gads- 
den Purchase," from the name of the minister who 
negotiated it. When the treaty of Guadalupe Hidal- 
go was made, at the close of the Mexican War, it was 
founded on an inaccurate map ; and this afterwards led 
to a dispute about the New Mexican boundary. To 
settle the dispute, the United States bought of Mexico 
(Dec. 30, 1853) a part of the Territories now known as 
Arizona and New Mexico, for ten million dollars. This 
purchase included about forty-five thousand square 
miles, and brought the whole territorial extent of the' 
United States (in 1854) up to nearly three million square! 
miles (2,981,701). This was nearly four times the area 
of the original thirteen States, and far larger than that 
of the famous Roman empire in its greatest days. 

Another important event that occurred in the time of 
President Pierce was a treaty with Japan, negotiated 
March 21, 1854, by Commodore Matthew C. Perry, 



TREATY WITH JAPAN. 285 

brother of the hero of Lake Erie. Before this time 
Japan had rigidly excluded from its ports all foreigners, 
except about a dozen Dutch traders, and had allowed 
shipwrecked seamen to be treated with the greatest 
cruelty. Commodore Perry with an American squad- 
ron compelled the Japanese to show more considera- 
tion for foreigners in distress ; and his treaty secured 
the removal of almost all restrictions on commerce 
with Japan. 

The new party opposed to the extension of slavery The eiec 
had now reached such strength, that the Whig party fifteenth ^ 
had gradually disappeared ; and the next presidential P'^^si'ient. 
election lay mainly between the Republican party, as 
the new organization styled itself, and the old Demo- 
cratic party. There was, however, a temporary party, 
composed of those who called themselves " Know 
Nothings," and aimed mainly to oppose foreign influ- 
ence in national legislation. This party carried but one 
State, Maryland; and the Democratic candidate, James 
Buchanan of Pennsylvania, was elected president. His 
administration (1857-1861) will always be remembered 
as that in which the great civil war, or "War of the 
Rebellion," arose. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



THE OPENING OF THE CIVIL WAR. BUCHANAN. 



The Dred 

Scott 

decision. 



John 
Brown in 
Virginia. 



John 

Bro^vn'3 

raid. 



MR. BUCHANAN'S inauguration took place on 
March 4, 1857, and that very year the Supreme 
Court pronounced a decision called the " Dred Scott 
Decision," declaring the right of slaveholders to take 
their slaves with them into any part of the country. 
This made a great excitement throughout the free 
States ; and something else soon happened, which ex- 
cited the slave States almost as much. This was what 
is commonly called "John Brown's Raid." Capt. John 
Brown's name has been already mentioned in describ- 
ing the resistance of the " Free State " settlers of 
Kansas to the "Border Ruffians" of Missouri. After 
order was restored in Kansas, John Brown resolved to 
fulfil a plan he had long formed for resisting slavery in 
the slave States themselves. In his youth he had been 
familiar with the mountains of Virginia, and had there 
visited places which, as he used to say, had evidently 
been created to be the stronghold for fugitive slaves. 
General Washington, long before him, had formed a 
plan to take the American army into these mountains, 
should the colonies be defeated ; and John Brown 
proposed to do the same with an army of blacks. So, 
having collected a small body of men near Harper's 
286 



JOHN BROWN S RAID. 



287 



Ferry, Va., he entered and took possession of the town, 
Oct. 16, 1859. He at once seized the United States He seizes 
Arsenal, intending thus to secure arms for the fugitive g^ates"^^ 
slaves whom he meant to summon to his side. arsenal. 

He frankly announced his object to be the freedom 
of the slaves ; and he promised safety to all property, 
except slave-property. He had in all but twenty-two 




HARPER'S FERRY. 



men ; but so great was the alarm produced by these, 
that several eye-witnesses reported the number to be 
three hundred ; and this estimate was at once tele- 
graphed to all parts of the Union. With this small 
number he took many of the chief inhabitants of the 
town as hostages for the safety of those under his com- 
mand. Wishing to spare all unnecessary alarm to the 



28S 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The trial 
of Jonn 
Brown. 



His com- 
rades. 



families of these hostages, he stayed at Harper's Ferry 
too long for his safety ; so that militia companies had 
time to assemble, and finally a detachment of United 
States marines appeared upon the scene. Fifteen 
hundred militiamen were gradually collected in the 
town; but Brown's little force defended the arsenal 
until nearly every man was killed or wounded, and they 
then surrendered to the United States troops. Colonel 
Washington, one of his prisoners, said that Captain 
Brown was " the coolest and firmest man he ever saw 
in defying danger and death. With one son dead by 
his side, and another shot through, he felt the pulse 
of his dying son with one hand, and held his rifle with 
the other, and commanded his men with the utmost 
composure, encouraging them to be firm." He fell at 
last with six wounds, and was thought to be dying. 
Ten of the party were killed, and four wounded. 

John Brown himself was put on trial before a Vir- 
ginia court, where he conducted himself in such a 
manner as to win the admiration even of his enemies. 
Governor Wise of Virginia said of him, "They are 
themselves mistaken who take him for a madman. . . . 
He is a man of clear head, of courage, fortitude, and 
simple ingenuousness. . . . He inspired me with great 
confidence in his integrity as a man of truth." He was 
condemned and executed on the gallows Dec. 2, 1859, 
at Charlestown, Va. ; his last act being to kiss the fore- 
head of a little slave-child, on the way to the place of 
execution. Six of his comrades were executed at a later 
day. A few others, who were on duty outside the town, 
escaped to the mountains, and thence, with great peril 
and hardship, to the free States. One of John Brown's 



ELECTION OF MR. LINCOLN. 289 

sons was the leader of this party, and has written a 
thrilling narrative of their escape. 

These events brouo^ht the agitation on the subject of The 

° . •' election of 

slavery to its highest point, during President Buchan- Abraham 
an's administration. When the time drew near for the 
election of a new president, the old parties were so 
broken up, that there were four candidates in the field, 
though Mr. Buchanan himself was not one of them 
Out of these four, Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, was 
elected, he having been nominated by the Republican 
party; this being an enlarged form of the Free- 
soil party, which had itself succeeeded the Liberty 
party. Mr. Lincoln was a man of very moderate ms views 
opinions in regard to slavery, and was not disposed to slavery, 
interfere with it where it was already established by 
law. But his election was regarded by many in the The doc- 
slave States as very dangerous to the interests of s"r4° 
slavery ; and these men resolved to dissolve the Union, "s^t^- 
They maintained that the United States consisted of a 
copartnership of entirely independent governments ; and 
that any State could withdraw from it at will. This was 
the doctrine called " State Rights," which had long been 
popular in the Southern States, and especially in South 
Carolina. It was therefore very natural that South secession. 
Carolina should take the lead in withdrawing from the 
Union ; and a convention was accordingly called in 
that State, and adopted (Dec. 20, i860) an ordinance 
of secession. Within six weeks similar conventions 
had been held, and similar votes passed, in the States 
of Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, 
and Texas. These States then formed themselves into The south- 
what was called the " Southern Confederacy," and federa^y. 



290 



Attack on 

Fort 

Sumter. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

elected (Feb. 8, 1861) Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, as 
president, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, as 
vice-president. The new confederacy maintained the 
righteousness of slavery as a permanent institution, and 
it openly aimed to establish a slave-holding nation in 
the Southern States. 

The authorities of South Carolina at once claimed 




ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER. 



possession of all national property in the State. Seeing 
this, Major Robert Anderson, who commanded the 
garrison of a small fort called Fort Moultrie in Charles- 
ton harbor, withdrew his force to Fort Sumter, a 
stronger position, and sent for re-enforcements from 
Washington. A steamer called the " Star of the 
West," carrying two hundred and fifty men, was sent 



ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER. 29T 

to Charleston in January, but was fired upon from Fort 
Moultrie, where the insurgents had placed a garrison. 
Then batteries were erected on the shore ; and at last 
(April 11) General Beauregard, in command of the 
Confederate troops, demanded the surrender of Fort 
Sumter; and, this being refused, the batteries opened 
fire upon the fort early the next morning. For two 
days the fire continued ; and at midnight of the second 
day Major Anderson surrendered the fort, his eighty 
men being wholly exhausted, his barracks on fire, and 
his gunpowder almost gone. He stipulated that he 
should be allowed to march out with drums beating 
and colors flying, and to bring away company and pri- 
vate property. This he did on Sunday, April 14, firing 
away his remaining powder in saluting the United States 
flag with fifty guns. 

The first gun fired at Fort Sumter aroused and ex- Effect of 
cited the whole nation ; and many who had before on Fort 
expressed much sympathy for the supporters of slavery S"™*^^- 
now took sides with those who wished to preserve the 
Union. The event also produced a great impression 
at the South; and acts of secession were passed in 
North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, and Tennessee. 
In all these States the colored population took sides 
unanimously with the Union ; but, being composed 
almost wholly of unarmed and ignorant slaves, they 
counted at first for little. There were also, in some of 
these States, many M'hite citizens who opposed dis- 
union ; but they were, in most cases, gradually silenced 
or driven away. Meanwhile President Buchanan 
showed no decision of character in dealing with the 
Rebellion ; and amid the rising tumult he went out of 
office. 



292 



VrOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 



Minnesota, 
Oregon, 
and Kan- 
sas ad- 
mitted. 



Census of 
1860. 



During his administratiori, three new States had been 
added to the Union, — Minnesota (1858), Oregon (1859), 
and Kansas (1861). Of these, Minnesota and Kansas 
were both formed mainly from the territory gained by 
the Louisiana purchase ; and both bear the Indian 
names of rivers flowing through them. Oregon was 
formed out of the territory secured to the United 
States by the boundary treaty of 1846; and the name 
is said to come from the word " Oregano," meaning 
wild rice, which grows profusely on the Pacific coast. 
By the census of i860, taken during Mr. Buchanan's 
administration, the whole population of the country was 
nearly thirty-one and a half millions (31,443,321). 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE CIVIL WAR. LINCOLN. 



N 



O one who was not in the midst of it can ima- The North 
£:ine the excitement that arose in all the Northern *^^^^.^y 

o surprise. 



States when it was heard that Fort Sumter had been 
attacked. Up to that moment there had been a great 
division of feeling at the 
North; and there were 
many who thought that, by 
patient efforts, those who 
wished to secede from the 
Union could be brought 
back again. Few really be- 
lieved that there was to be 
any serious fighting. While 
the white population of the 
South had been preparing 
for war, the Northern peo- 
ple had gone about their usual employments ; and, when 
the attack came, they were quite taken by surprise. Al- 
though, three months before, the Confederates in Louis- 
iana had seized upon the fort at the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi, and upon the United States Arsenal at Baton 
Rouge the Northern people could not convince them- 
selves that actual war would take place. So they were 
still unprepared. 

293 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



294 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The first 
call for 
troops. 



When President Lincoln was inaugurated (March 4, 
1861), the regular army was very small, and very much 
scattered; but, on the 15th of April, he issued a call 
for seventy-five thousand volunteers for three months 
only. A few regiments of militia were hastily sum- 
moned from the different States for the defence of 
Washington. One of these, the Sixth Massachusetts. 




SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT ATTACKED BY A MOB. 



Baltimore was attacked by a mob in passing through Baltimore ; 
and, after three men had been killed by stones and 
clubs, one company fired on the mob in return, killing 
nine men, and wounding many. This took place on 
April 19, 1861, the anniversary of the Battle of Lex- 
ington. It produced almost as much excitement as 
the attack on Fort Sumter, not that the Baltimore 



ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. 295 

affair was a deliberate act of organized rebellion, but 
that it showed the feeling of hostility to the govern- 
ment wherever slavery existed. 

When it was necessary to send the next troops Troops 
through Maryland, they were not marched through Bal- through 
timore, but through Annapolis. General Butler, with ^""^poi^s 
regiments of militia from Massachusetts and New 
York, passed along the line of railway from Annapolis 
to Washington ; the soldiers repairing it as they went. 
Finding a wrecked locomotive by the roadside, the 
general asked if there was any one in the ranks who 
could repair it. " I can," said a soldier who had been 
examining the engine ; "for I built it," In truth, these 
troops were made up of men of all occupations, just 
taken from the daily pursuits of life ; and there were few 
trades which were not represented in every regiment. 
After a while, troops were sent through Baltimore again ; 
and it became, almost of necessity, a loyal city. But at 
first the thing most essential was to reach Washington 
without delay, and make it secure. 

When the first alarm about the safety of Washington prepara- 
was relieved, it became necessary to create an army. wa^lt°he 
Recruits were gathered in all the States, under the ^°'^*'^- 
president's proclamation, and were organized into regi- 
ments by the governors of the States. But all the mate- 
rials of war had to be collected by the United States 
Government. Mr. Buchanan's secretary of war, himself 
a secessionist, had sent several hundred thousand 
muskets to Southern arsenals, and left the Northern 
arsenals almost bare. It was the same with cannon and 
ammunition. All these, therefore, had to be bought, 
or manufactured by the government, at very short 



296 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The 
blockade. 



Death of 

Col. 

Ellsworth. 



The war in 
Virginia. 



notice. It was necessary to have uniforms made for 
the soldiers, to organize a supply of horses and army- 
wagons, camp-equipage, medicines, and provisions, and 
to provide for the proper distribution of these to the 
troops in such way that there should be no waste or 
want. This all had to be begun at once, and to be 
completed as quickly as possible. President Lincoln 
also issued a proclamation, announcing that the South- 
ern ports were blockaded, and forbidding vessels to 
enter or leave them. 

On the 24th of May, troops were sent from Washing- 
ton into Virginia, some being ordered to Alexandria, 
some to Arlington Heights near Washington. Colonel 
Ellsworth, the youthful commander of a part of these 
troops, seeing a Confederate flag flying from a hotel, en- 
tered the house to take it down, and was shot by the 
proprietor. He was well known in the Northern cities ; 
and his death produced much indignation. Fighting soon 
began in both Eastern and Western Virginia. In Western 
Virginia there was a strong Union party ; and the troops 
of the other party were finally driven out in a series of en- 
gagements in which General McClellan was the chief 
commander. In Eastern Virginia there was an engage- 
ment at Big Bethel, in which the Union troops were de- 
feated ; but there was no general engagement till July. 
Then Lieutenant-General Scott, the commander-in-chief, 
made an attempt to advance on Richmond ; and his 
troops, under General McDowell, were defeated at Bull 
Run. This was on July 21 ; some thirty thousand troops 
being engaged on each side. The result of the battle had 
seemed very doubtful until three o'clock in the afternoon, 
when re-enforcements arrived for the Confederate troops; 



RECOGNITION OF THE CONFEDERACY. 29/ 

and the result was a total rout of the Union forces, 
which retreated in great disorder to Washington. 

Later in the year there was a smaller battle at Ball's Baii'a 
Bluff, in which the Union troops were also unsuccess- ^ ' 
ful. Thus the war opened badly in Eastern Virginia. 
On the other hand, the Confederates were successfully The wai m 
driven out of Northern Missouri by General Lyon ; ^■•"®°^" 

J ^ ' a"<i along 

and some important expeditions were sent to different t^^" coast, 
points on the Southern coast, such as Fort Hatteras 
in North Carolina, and Port Royal in South Carolina. 
This last was especially important, as the Confederates 
at once abandoned most of the posts they had seized 
along the South Atlantic coast, and never afterwards 
regained them. All this was accomplished in 1861. 
Towards the end of that year, Lieut. -Gen. Winfield Scott Gen. scott 
retired from the command of the armies of the United '■®^^^"^- 
States, and was succeeded by Major-Gen. George B. 
McClellan. 

During the first year of the war the navy of the our navy. 
United States had to be greatly enlarged. At the 
outset, there were but four ships available for service 
at home, with less than three hundred sailors ; yet it 
was necessary to have a force large enough to block- 
ade all the ports of the seceded States. The Con- Foreign 
federates sent out privateers to prey upon American 
commerce ; and these privateers were protected and re- 
fitted in foreign ports, especially those of England. That 
nation, with France, Spain, and Portugal, recognized the 
seceded States as having the rights of belligerents ; thus 
putting the Confederacy, as a war power, on the same 
footing with the National Government. War with Eng- Mason and 
land was narrowly avoided, at the time when Messrs. 



advance on 
Richmond. 



298 YOUNG folks' united STATES. . 

Mason and Slidell, Confederate commissioners, were 
captured by a United States vessel from an English mail- 
steamer, Nov. 8, 1 86 1. This act, bemg found to be con- 
trary to the law of nations, was promptly disowned by 
the American Government ; and peaceful relations were 
restored. But the hopes of the secessionists were sus- 
tained throughout the war by the expectation of being 
recognized and assisted by foreign governments. 

Peninsular At the beginning of the year 1862 the whole Union 
army amounted to more than five hundred thousand 

Second men, almost all of these being volunteers. General 
McClellan, in command of the Army of the Potomac, 
marched up the peninsula formed by the James and 
York Rivers, to attack Richmond, the capital of the 
Confederate Government; and- he even crossed the 
Chickahominy River. When his advanced guard, under 
General Casey, was at Fair Oaks, within six miles of 
Richmond, it was attacked (May 31, 1862), and driven 
back, but was afterwards re-enforced, and drove the 
opposing army into Richmond. Some eighty thousand 
men were engaged in this battle. McClellan, after 
remaining two months in camp, decided it to be neces- 
sary to withdraw his force, and change his base of 
operations to the James River. This led to a series of 
attacks from the Confederate forces, called " the Seven- 
Days' Battles of the Peninsula ; " the battle at Malvern 
Hill (July I, 1862) being the severest, and resulting in 
the defeat of the Confederates. In these battles nearly a 
hundred thousand men were engaged on each side ; each 
losing more than fifteen thousand. The army of Gen- 
eral Banks was ordered from the Shenandoah Valley to 
cover the change of position on the part of McClellan. 



INVASION OF MARYLAND. 



299 



There were battles at Cedar Mountain and Bull Run. 
General Lee led the Confederate army across the Poto- Lee'a first 
mac into Maryland, capturing Harper's Ferry and Fred- ^^^^^*°'^- 
erick City. Whittier's fine poem, " Barbara Frietchie," 
describes an incident that is said to have taken place 
at the capture of this city. Finally McClellan en- Antietam. 
countered Lee at Antietam, Md. (Sept. 17, 1862), in 




BARBARA FRIETCHIE. 



one of the severest battles of the war. One hundred 
and fifty thousand men were engaged in it, including 
both armies. The Union loss in this battle and in 
that of South Mountain, which took place just before, 
was more than fourteen thousand ; and that on the other 
side more than twelve thousand. The Union army 
was victorious ; and, during the following night, General 



300 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

The third Lee withdrew his troops across the Potomac. Great 
Richmond, dissatlsfaction was felt with General McClellan for 
permitting this retreat ; and, as there had been similar 
dissatisfaction after Fair Oaks and Malvern, he was 
removed from command in November, and Gen. Am- 
brose E. Burnside was put in his place, at the head 
of the Army of the Potomac. Burnside crossed the 
Rappahannock, and took Fredericksburg, but was 
obliged to retreat again with heavy losses. 
Monitor Thus the second year of the war brought little pro- 

Merrimack. grcss towards the immediate aim of the contest, — the 
capture of the Confederate capital. But a naval con- 
test in Virginia waters r/ieanwhile attracted the atten- 
tion of the whole nation, and, indeed, of the civilized 
world. The Union officers, early in the war, had aban- 
doned the navy-yard at Norfolk, and destroyed most of 
the vessels ; but some ships had escaped destruction, 
and among them the " Merrimack." The secessionists 
had covered this vessel with railroad iron and heavy 
timber, and had furnished her with a bow of steel. With 
this she attacked the Union squadron at Hampton 
Roads. The wooden frigates assailed her in vain. 
The balls struck and glanced upward, " having no more 
effect than peas from a pop-gun ; " and at the end of the 
day the Union frigate " Cumberland " had gone down, 
her brave commander ordering one more broadside as 
she sank ; the " Congress " was burned to the water's 
edge, and the "Minnesota" was aground. So matters 
stood, when, at nine in the evening, a little vessel ot 
insignificant appearance, looking, as one eye-witness 
has said, " like a capsized whale-ship," and, as another 
said, "like a cheese-box on a raft," steamed into 



MONITOR AND MERRIMACK. ^01 

Hampton Roads. It was the " Monitor," commanded 
by Capt. John L. Worden, and invented by Captain 
Ericsson, an engineer of Swedish birth. In the morn- 
ing the " Merrimack " got under way again, and bore 
down upon the frigate that lay aground. The " Moni- The con- 
tor," steaming alongside the " Merrimack," opened fire. 
The '* ram " fired in returr. For two hours the contest 





"monitor" and "MERRIMACK." 

lasted, both ships using more powerful ordnance than 
had ever before been used in a naval encounter, and 
this at a distance of one hundred and fifty yards ; yet the 
cannonade was useless. Neither produced the slight- 
est effect on the other, until at last the " Monitor " 
sent a shell through a porthole of her antagonist, doing 
severe execution among the crew. After that the 



302 



YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 



Important 

Federal 

successes. 



Battle of 
Pittsburg 
Landing. 



" Merrimack " retreated, leaving the victory with the 
little " Monitor." The whole nation was relieved when 
the news of this victory came ; for, if the " Merri- 
mack " had been left free to enter New York harbor, it 
might have destroyed every wooden vessel in port. 
The general substitution of iron vessels for wooden, in 
the navies of the world, may be said to have followed 
from this contest. 

While these things were going on, by land and water, 
in Virginia, there were very important events happen- 
ing elsewhere in the war. An expedition under Gen- 
eral Burnside captured Roanoke Island, and several 
important points in North Carolina. The Union troops 
took Fort Pulaski and the seaports of Eastern Florida. 
On the Western rivers two strongholds were taken, — 
Fort Henry on the Tennessee, and Fort Donelson on 
the Cumberland. The latter was besieged by General 
Grant ; and, on the Confederate commander's asking 
what terms the Union forces would accept, the message 
was returned, " Unconditional Surrender ; " which after- 
wards became the nickname of Gen. U. S. Grant. 

After the capture of Fort Donelson, the Confederate 
troops abandoned Nashville, the capital of Tennessee, 
and were driven from a strongly fortified island in the 
Mississippi River, called "Island No. lo." A severe 
battle took place at Pittsburg Landing (April 6, 1862), 
between the Union forces under Grant, and the Con- 
federate forces under Johnston and Beauregard. On 
the first day General Grant was driven from his posi- 
tion with severe loss ; but on the second day, with the 
aid of re-enforcements under General Buell, the Union 
troops recaptured the camps from which they had been 



CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



303 



Orleans.. 



dislodged. More than a hundred thousand men were 
engaged in the battle of Pittsburg Landing ; and there 
were about ten thousand killed and wounded on each 
side. 

One of the most important warlike exploits of this capture oi 
year was the taking of New Orleans by a naval force ^^^ 
under Commodore Farragut, aided by a land force 
under General Butler. The city was very strongly de- 
fended. Seventy-five miles below it there were two 
strong forts ; and below 
these a chain was stretched 
across the river, with earth- 
works at each end. Be- 
tween the forts and the 
chain there were five rafts 
filled with inflammable ma- 
terials, — besides thirteen 
gunboats, an iron-clad float- 
ing battery, and an iron 
"ram." Commodore Far- 
ragut cannonaded the forts 

in vain, but saved his vessels from the burning rafts by 
seizing and extinguishing each as it floated down. At 
last he decided to attempt to run by the forts with his 
fleet. He accordingly got under way on April 24, 1862; 
and while the forts, the steamers, and the batter}^, all 
poured their fire upon the fleet, it steamed steadily up 
the river till the danger was passed. A single Union 
vessel, the "Varuna," sunk or disabled six steamers; 
and Farragut anchored off the quarantine station that 
evening. The next morning he reached the city, and 
took possession ; and the forts and fleet in the river 




COMMODORE FARRAGUT. 



304 



Emanci- 
pation. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

were surrendered a few days after. On May i General 
Butler, with a land force, entered New Orleans, and 
proclaimed martial law. Farragut afterwards pene- 
trated farther up the river; and, though Vicksburg held 
out some time longer, the control of the lower Missis- 
sippi was thenceforth secured to the government. 

But the most important occurrence of this year was 




COMMODORE FARRAGUT PASSING THE FORTS BELOW NEW ORLEANS. 

a political event, — the President's proclamation for 
the emancipation of the slaves. The war had not 
_been originally waged for the abolition of slavery, but 
to preserve the Union ; and when Union generals — 
Fre'mont, Phelps, and Hunter — had, at different times 
and places, undertaken to set slaves free, the Pres- 
ident had revoked their action, or limited it to the 



EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 305 

slaves actually employed against the government. It 
proved, at last, necessary to declare freedom to the 
slaves ; and on Sept. 22, 1862, President Lincoln issued 
this proclamation : — 

" That on the first day of January, in the year of our 
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all 
persons held as slaves within any State, or designated 
part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in 
rebellion against the United States, shall be then, 
thenceforth, and forever free ; and the Executive Gov- 
ernment of the United States, including the military 
and naval authority thereof, will recognize and main- 
tain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act 
or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any 
effort they may make for their actual freedom." 

In his message to Congress the President thus ex- 
plained this act : — 

" In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom 
to the free, honorable alike in what we give and what 
we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the 
last best hope of earth. . . . The way is plain, peace- 
ful, glorious, just, — a way, which, if followed, the world 
will forever applaud, and God must forever bless." 

Almost at the same time with this proclamation, the The raising 
policy of raising colored troops began to be systemati- t^oo^T^^ 
cally adopted by the government. Already in May, 
1862, Gen. David Hunter had organized in South Caro- 
lina, on his own responsibility, a regiment of blacks ; 
and, though the government had disbanded the regi- 
ment, one company had been allowed to remain in ser- 
vice, and became the nucleus of the First South Caro- 
lina Volunteers, raised, with official authority, by Gen. 



3o6 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The slaves 
set free. 



The fourth 
advance on 
Richmond. 



Lee's 

second 

invasion. 



Gettys- 
burg. 



Rufus Saxton, in October. During the same summer 
the First Kansas Colored began to be enlisted by Gen- 
eral Lane in Kansas. These were the first regiments 
composed of freed slaves. General Butler had, how- 
ever, found some regiments of free colored troops partly 
organized for the Confederate service in New Orleans, 
and had taken them into the Union service. 

On New Year's Day, 1863, President Lincoln issued 
a second proclamation, confirming his earlier one, and 
declaring the freedom of the slaves. Early in the year 
General Hooker succeeded General Burnside in com- 
mand of the Army of the Potomac, but was defeated 
by General Lee at Chancellorsville, Va. In this battle 
fell General Jackson, called " Stonewall " Jackson, the 
most popular of the Confederate generals. A period 
of great reaction and discouragement followed. The 
cost of the war for the Union had become enormous ; 
and large bounties had to be paid for soldiers, bringing 
into the service many " bounty-jumpers," as they were 
called, who enlisted merely for money, and soon de- 
serted to enlist again. At one time more than two 
hundred a day were deserting from the Army of the 
Potomac. Soldiers were being drafted ;. but the draft 
was very unpopular. Under these circumstances Gen- 
eral Lee resolved to invade the Northern States. He 
marched down the Shenandoah Valley, across the 
Potomac, and towards Chambersburg. Near Gettys- 
burg his advance encountred the Union cavalry ; and 
a general battle was brought on, without having been 
previously intended on either side. The Union forces 
were commanded by Gen. George G. Meade. The bat- 
tle began July i, and lasted three days ; eighty thousand 



SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 



307 



being engaged on each side, and the loss of each being 
more than twenty thousand. It ended in the defeat 
and retreat of Lee, and put an end forever to the 
thought of an invasion of the north. 

The battle of Gettysburg may be regarded as the surrender 
turning-point of the war. At the moment when the bui'!''*'^' 
last charge of that battle was being repulsed, General 




^^f- 



SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 



Grant was negotiating for the surrender of the strong- 
hold of Vicksburg, which had, up to that time, ren- 
dered the Mississippi impassable for vessels. It was 
the most important fortified place in the south-west, 
being on a high bluff, thoroughly defended by batteries 
in all directions. It fell after a siege of forty-seven 
days, being surrendered on the Fourth of July. A 



3o8 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Fall of 

Port 

Hudson. 



New York 
riot. 



The cam- 
paign in 
East 
Tennessee. 



cavalry raid by Col. B. R. Grierson occurred in con- 
nection with this siege. This officer, with about a thou- 
sand cavalry, swept through Mississippi, traversing in 
about a fortnight four hundred miles of territory, de- 
stroying bridges and military supplies. The Confed- 
erate General Morgan also made a daring raid through 
Kentucky into Indiana, with three thousand cavalry, 
but was defeated and captured at last. 

Port Hudson, which had been besieged by General 
Banks for many weeks, was obliged to surrender soon 
after Vicksburg ; and the Mississippi River was now 
open to the Union vessels once more. This was a 
great step forward. But, as time went on, it grew more 
and more difficult to raise soldiers for the war ; and the 
draft was in many quarters bitterly opposed. In New 
York especially, a great riot took place, nominally occa- 
sioned by the draft, but aimed at the colored people 
and all who defended them. It began July 13, and 
lasted three days ; the militia regiments of the city 
being absent for the defence of Pennsylvania, and the 
police force of the city being wholly unable to pre- 
serve order. Houses were burned, including an orphan 
asylum ; and negroes were pursued and killed in the 
streets. 

Later in the year General Rosecrans, with a large 
Union force, met with a severe defeat near Chicka- 
mauga, Tennessee ; and his army was besieged at Chat- 
tariooga, and was in danger of starvation. It was, how- 
ever, relieved by General Grant in a masterly series of 
movements, including a three-days' battle, in which the 
Confederate army was dislodged from a series of strong 
positions upon the mountains which surrounded the 



BATTLES IN TENNESSEE. 



309 



town. " The opening movement of the battle was 
made with such regularity and precision, that the Con- 
federate troops on the heights above took it for a mere 
review or drill." General Thomas captured Orchard Lookout 
Knob ; General Hooker scaled the heights of Lookout °^^ ^^° 
Mountain, and fought a battle "above the clouds;" 
General Sherman attacked Missionary Ridge ; and, 




BATTLE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 



finally, the whole army ascended the mountain side, 
under severe fire, and drove the opposing force from 
the intrenchments five hundred feet above. This was 
Nov. 25, 1863. The loss in these two battles was more 
than twenty thousand on each side. Their effect was 
to banish the Confederate forces from Tennessee. 

During this time but little advance had been made 



3IO YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

Operations in the " Department of the' South ; " though a successful 
Charleston, attack Oil Charleston, S. C, had been made by Admiral 
Dupont with his " monitors," aided by General Hunter 
on land. There had been several expeditions up the 
Southern rivers, within the Confederate lines, but noth- 
ing on a large scale, until the arrival of General Gill- 
more, who planned a regular siege of Charleston, 
carried on chiefly from Folly and Morris Islands, 
with the aid of cannon of very long range. A severe 
attack and repulse took place at Fort Wagner (July i8, 
1863), in w^hich a regiment of colored troops was placed 
in front, and their brave young commander. Colonel 
Shaw, was killed. This important fort was taken in 
September ; and the siege of Charleston became more 
close. On the whole, the prospects of the war for the 
Union were more favorable at the end of 1863. 
" Peace," said President Lincoln at that time, " does 
not appear so distant as it did. I hope it will come 
soon, and come to stay, and so come as to be worth 
keeping in all future time." 
Some Early in the year 1864 some darinfr advances within 

daring but ,,.,,. ,7 

fruitless the hostilc lincs took place on both sides, but without 
°^°^^'^®^ ^"results. General Kilpatrick led his cavalry within 
three miles of Richmond, Va. General Seymour occu 
pied Jacksonville, Fla., which had been twice before 
occupied and abandoned ; and he was proceeding far- 
ther into the State, when he was checked at the severe 
battle of Olustee, Feb. 20. General Banks, in the 
South-west, conducted an expedition up the Red River, 
but was defeated and driven back ; his gunboats being 
greatly endangered by the falling of the river, and 
being saved only by the skill of a volunteer officer, 



PROMOTION OF GENERAL GRANT. 



311 



Colonel Bailey, who built dams across, the stream, 
and floated the vessels down. At the very time of 
the Red River Expedition, the Confederate general, 
Forrest, made a raid into Tennessee and Kentucky, 
captured Fort Pillow (April 12), and massacred three 
hundred colored soldiers who formed a part of its 



But the event of greatest importance during this Grand plan 

r ^ , ^, , for 1864. 

year was the appointment or General Grant to the 
command of all the armies 
(March 17), with the title 
of lieutenant-general. He 
soon planned two great 
movements, which were to 
proceed at the same time 
One of these was to be di- 
rected against Richmond, 
Va., by the Army of the 
Potomac, which was com- 
manded by General Meade, 
but under General Grant's 
immediate supervision. The other was under the ex- 
clusive charge of Gen. W. T. Sherman, who undertook 
to march an army across the interior of the States in 
rebellion, from the mountains to the sea. 

When General Grant's movements in Virginia began, Grant's 
he wrote to President Lincoln, "I propose to fight i t 'Jllhmond'! 
out on this line, if it takes all summer ; " and though 
he was obliged to change his position more than once, 
he still persevered. In May and June he sustained 
terrible losses in the battles of the Wilderness, of 




GENERAL GRANT. 



Spottsyh 



and of Cold Harbor, losing seventy 



312 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

thousand men in all. He laid siege unsuccessfully 
to Richmond, and, in spite of the aid given in a bril- 
liant raid by General Sheridan, the whole campaign of 
Early's Grant in 1864 was discouraging. Meanwhile the Con- 
federate general, Early, with twenty thousand men, 
made a raid into Pennsylvania in July, and burned the 
Raid on St. town of Chambcrsburg ; and an incursion w^as also 
Albans, vt. ^^^^ -j-j^-q ^^le town of St. Albans, Vt., by some Con- 
federates from Canada, who took the inhabitants by 
surprise, robbed the banks, and retreated. General 
Early was pursued by General Sheridan, and defeated 
Sheridan's at Ccdar Creek on Oct. 19. The forces of Sheridan 
"**®' had been attacked by Early during the temporary 

absence of their commander, and had been driven 
four miles with heavy loss. Sheridan had news of 
the fight when at Winchester, twenty miles away, and 
rode that distance at a furious speed. Meeting his 
retreating troops, he rallied them, and turned the de- 
feat into victory, capturing fifty pieces of artillery, and 
many prisoners. This event has been made the subject 
of a ballad, called " Sheridan's Ride," by Buchanan 
Read. 
Kearsarge At sca, thc Confederate privateers had for some 
Alabama, time bccu vcry destructive to American merchant- 
vessels. The " Shenandoah " had destroyed thirty-four 
whale-ships in the arctic seas ; and the " Alabama " 
had taken sixty-five vessels. American ships had 
almost been driven from the ocean, or had been trans- 
ferred to British ownership for protection. The Con- 
federate privateers had escaped meeting United States 
men-of-war, until the " Alabama " was attacked by the 
" Kearsarge," Captain Winslow, off the coast of Cher- 



NAVAL ACTIONS. 

bourg, France, June 19, 1864. During the action, the 
two vessels were steaming at the rate of seven miles 
an hour, and swinging round one another in circles, so 
as to bring their broadsides to bear. After they had 
described seven of these circles, and had come within 
a quarter of a mile of one another, the "Alabama" 



313 




SHERIDAN S RIDE. 



was sunk ; Captain Semmes and his men being picked 
up by an English yacht. 

Another brilliant naval action during this year was capture oi 
that won in Mobile Bay by Admiral Farragut, Aug. 5. ^°^"®- 
The bay was a great resort for blockade-runners : it was 
defended by two forts, by torpedoes set in the narrow 
channel, and by an iron-plated ram of great power. 



314 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



— the "Tennessee." Farragut had to meet these ob- 
stacles with wooden ships, aided by a few " monitors," 
one of which was soon struck by a torpedo, and went 
down with her crew. Farragut had provided false 
bows of iron with which his wooden ships might charge 
the ram ; and this dangerous vessel was at length dis- 
abled, and surrendered with the forts. 



Destruc- 
tion of the 
Albemarle. 




DESTRUCTION OF THE "ALBEMARLE." 

Still another encounter, and probably the most 
daring naval action of the w^ar, was that in which a 
powerful ram, the " Albemarle," was destroyed at 
night (Oct. 27, 1864) by a torpedo from a steam-launch 
commanded by Lieutenant Gushing, who had volun- 
teered for this dangerous duty. His boat was itself 
sunk by the shock of the torpedo ; and only the com- 



SHERMAN S MARCH TO THE SEA. 3I5 

mander and one of his crew were saved, — by swim- 
ming, — under close fire from the ram. 

But the main event of this year was the campaign of Sherman's 
General Sherman in Tennessee, and his march across the sea. 
the State of Georgia to Savannah. The object was to 
cut off the supplies of the Confederates, and break up 
their railroad communications. The campaign began 
early in May, 1864. Sherman had to conduct his army 
through a series of mountain regions and passes bris* 
tling with fortifications, which had to be carried with 
great loss. He took the important town of Atlanta, 
Ga., and then began his famous " March to the Sea." 
His course lay through a fertile region, where the army 
of sixty thousand men advanced in two columns, under 
Generals Howard and Slocum, subsisting largely on 
what could be found in the country passed through. 
After a march of three hundred miles, they reached the 
sea, and established communication with the forces at 
Hilton Head under General Foster, and with the fleet 
under Admiral Dahlgren. The Confederate forces re- 
treated from Savannah, and the Union Army entered it; 
and General Sherman wrote to President Lincoln, " I 
beg to present to you as a Christmas gift the city of 
Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns, and 
plenty of ammunition, and also twenty-five thousand 
bales of cotton." He had lost in the march only sixty- 
three killed, and two hundred and forty-five wounded. 

In January, 1865, General Sherman resumed his Sherman's 
"Great March," from Savannah northward. He him- J^^'^^^Jij 
self wrote, " Christmas found us at Savannah. Waiting northward, 
there only long enough to fill our wagons, we began 
another march, which for peril, labor, and results, will 



3i6 YOUNG folks' united states. 

compare with any ever made by an organized army. 
The floods of the Savannah, the swamps of the Com- 
bahee and the Edisto, the high hills and rocks of the 
Santee, the flat quagmires of the Pedee and Cape Fear 
Rivers, were all passed in midwinter, with its floods 
and rain, in the face of an accumulating enemy ; and, 
after the battles of Averysborough and Bentonsville, we 
once more came out of the wilderness to meet our 
friends at Goldsborough." 

He met these " friends " — the troops under General 
Schofield — on the 23d of March. Sherman had proved 
by this exploit that the Confederacy had now become, 
as he said, " an empty shell ; " the men having been 
necessarily withdrawn from the interior of the country 
to defend its borders. His triumphant success helped 
to give the finishing stroke to the war. 
Pall of This march aided, also, in the capture of Charleston, 

Charleston , . , , , i i • 

which had now been besieged for more than five hun- 
dred days. It was finally abandoned (Feb. 17) by the 
Confederate forces ; fires being first set in different 
parts of the city. Some other successes took place 
this year, especially the capture by General Terry of 
Fort Fisher, which protected Wilmington, N.C. But 
these were only preliminary to the final movement of 
General Grant against Richmond. 
Final On March 20, i86tr, the movement of Grant's armv 

movement y o^ j 

of Grant's began. He had become satisfied, both by his own 
*^°^^' observation and by the success of Sherman's attempt, 
that the Confederate armies were nearly exhausted, and 
that a resolute effort would bring the war to a close. 
Placing Sheridan in command of all the cavalry of the 
army, he sent out this daring officer with this order; 



CAPTURE OF RICHMOND. 317 

" In the morning push round the enemy, and get to his 
rear." Accordingly, on April i, 1865, Sheridan, aided 
by Warren and Humphreys, fought the decisive battle 
of Five Forks, turning the flank of Lee's army and 
taking five thousand prisoners. Two days after, Peters- 
burg and Richmond were occupied by the Union forces. 

When General Lee found that he could no longer Evacuation 
hold his position at Petersburg, he telegraphed to mond.^' 
Jefferson Davis at Richmond, " My lines are broken 
in three places. Richmond must be evacuated this 
evening." The despatch reached Mr. Davis on Sun- 
day, in church, and was handed to him amid the silence 
of the congregation. He hastily left the church, and 
the rumor was instantly spread that the city was to be 
abandoned. In a few hours wagons were seen at the 
department offices, carrying boxes away ; and soon the 
streets were full of men, hurrying from the city, and 
carrying with them their valuables in all manner of 
conveyances. The sum of a hundred dollars in gold 
was offered for a wagon. Vast stores of provisions 
were sent away to the retreating army ; and all that was 
left was freely distributed among the people, black and 
white. The city council gave orders to destroy all the 
liquor in the city to prevent intoxication ; but much of 
it was seized by the soldiers, and made the confusion 
worse. Four large tobacco-houses were set on fire by 
the military authorities ; the shipping was fired or 
blown up ; and the bridges were also in flames. A 
scene of the wildest excitement raged that night in the 
city. On the next day (April 3) Richmond was occu- 
pied by colored troops of the Union army, under 
General Weitzel ; and the Confederacy had no longer 
a capital. 



3i8 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Surrender 
of Lee. 



Summary 
of the re- 
sults of 
the war. 



Lee made courageous efforts to retreat with his army, 
but he was closely followed up by Sheridan, and the 
pressure of hunger and exhaustion upon his troops was 
so severe that, as an eye-witness said, " Hundreds 
dropped from exhaustion, and thousands let fall their 
muskets from inability to carry them farther." On the 
9th of April, 1865, at Appomattox Court-House, Lee 
surrendered his army to Grant, on terms honorable to 
both parties. His surrender was soon followed by that 
of the other Confederate generals. Jefferson Davis was 
captured in Georgia, disguised in woman's clothing; 
and the Great Rebellion, or civil war, was at an end. 
It had lasted four years ; had cost during the last year 
more than three million dollars a day; and left the 
United States with a debt of more than two billion 
seven hundred million dollars ($2,749,491,745). It had 
also cost more than half a million lives, including both 
sides. But it had abolished slavery, a most important 
result, and one that few men could have anticipated. 
And it had established the principle that the United 
States must be regarded as a nation one and indivisi- 
ble, and not as a mere alliance of independent States. 

It had also proved, what some had doubted, that the 
strength, courage, and patriotism of the American peo- 
ple were still as great as in the period of the Revolu- 
tion. There were few families. North or South, which 
did not suffer some bereavement during the long con- 
test. On both sides the self-devotion of the women 
at home equalled that of the soldiers in the field ; and 
in the Northern States, especially, the multitudes of 
women who worked for the " Sanitary Commission " 
rendered very valuable services to their country. 



SINCERITY OF THE SOUTH. 319 

The sacrifices made during the civil war were as summary 
great as those made in the Revolutionary War; while suits of 
the armies and the battles were on a far larger scale. *^ewar. 
The Confederate army was, from the beginning, out- 
numbered by its opponents ; but it had greatly the 
advantage of position, since it is far easier to defend 
any region than to conquer it. Each side learned to 
respect the courage and resources of the other, and to 
feel that, if Americans were once reunited, no foreign 
power could ever endanger their liberties. It was not, 
indeed, possible that those who had fought for the flag 
of their country could pay equal honor to those who 
tried to strike it down. But they could remember that 
most of these mistaken men had been taught from 
childhood that their first allegiance was due to their 
own State, not to the United States ; so that they felt 
themselves loyal, in their own way, even when fighting 
against their nation. This delusion ended, let us hope, 
with the war ; but it is necessary to remember it in 
order to do justice to those who fought for the Confed- 
erate side. So far as the object of the secessionists was 
to retain possession of their slaves, no excuse is to be 
made for them, except that the Union Government did 
not itself order the emancipation of the slaves until 
compelled to it by military necessity. For the cruelties 
inflicted by the Confederates on Union prisoners during 
the war no excuse at all is to be made, nor for deeds 
like the massacre of colored troops at Fort Pillow. But 
these were, after all, the acts of a few ; and the general 
feeling in both armies was, no doubt, that of sincere 
and manly opponents. 

No one has ever expressed the feelings of thoughtful 



320 



YOUNG folks' united STATES. 



Lincoln's 
second 
Inaugural 
address. 



and conscientious men at the close of the war, so 
simply and impressively as did President Lincoln in his 
second Inaugural Address, just before the fall of Rich- 
mond. The following is a portion of this address : — 

" Neither party expected for the war the magnitude 
or the duration which it has already attained. Neither 
anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease 
with, or even before, the conflict itself should cease. 
Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less 
fundamental and astounding. 

" Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same 
God ; and each invokes his aid against the other. It 
may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a 
just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the 
sweat of other men's faces ; but let us judge not, that 
we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be 
answered. That of neither has been answered fully. 
The Almighty has his own purposes. ' Woe unto the 
world because of offences, for it must needs be that 
offences come ; but woe to that man by whom the 
offence cometh.' If we shall suppose that American 
slavery is one of these offences, which, in the provi- 
dence of God, must needs come, but which, having con- 
tinued through his appointed time, he now wills to 
remove, and that he gives to both North and South 
this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the 
offence came, shall we discern therein any departure 
from those divine attributes which the believers in a 
living God always ascribe to him ? Fondly do we hope, 
fervently do we pra}^, that this mighty scourge of war 
may soon pass away. Yet if God wills that it con- 
tinue until all the wealth piled by the bondman's two 



EXTRACT FROM MR. LINCOLN S ADDRESS. 321 

hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be 
sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the 
lash shall be paid with another drawn with the sword ; 
as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must 
be said, ' The judgments of the Lord are true and right- 
eous altogether.' 

"With malice towards none, with charity for all, with 
firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, 
let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up 
the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have 
borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans, 
to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a 
lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." 



I 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. — GRANT. 



Asaaasln- 
atlon of 
President 
Lincoln. 



Confidence 
In Lincoln. 



THERE was joy, with thanksgiving, over the 
greater part of the nation, when the news of 
Lee's surrender came over the telegraphic wires, and ii 
was known that the weary war had ended. Five days 
after (April 14, 1865), the same wires sent far and wide 
another message, turning joy into mourning. It was 
the news that President Lincoln had been shot while 
sitting in the theatre at Washington, by an assassin, 
Wilkes Booth. A similar attempt was made upon the 
life of Mr. Seward, the secretary of state ; and there was 
evidence of a plot to remove all the leading members 
of the government. It does not appear that the plot 
extended far, or that any of the Confederate leaders 
were responsible for it. But no one knew, at the time, 
how far it might reach ; and so the excitement was very 
great, apart from the lamentation. 

President Lincoln had greatly endeared himself to 
the nation during his difficult term of office. No 
president since Washington had been put to so severe 
a test ; and no president, unless it were Washington, 
had so thoroughly won the confidence of the people. 
His simplicity, honesty, and fidelity, his fearless pur- 
pose, sympathetic heart, and quaint humor, had never 
322 



AFTER THE CIVIL WAR. 323 

failed in the darkest hours of the war; and he had 
been elected by an overwhelming vote to a second 
term of office. Every one felt that great and difficult 
problems were before the nation now that peace had 
come ; and everybody looked to the future with more 
confidence, from having Abraham Lincoln as Chief 
Magistrate. When the news of his death came, the Mourning 
mourning extended through all parties, and to all re- °^ ^^^o^^ 
gions of the country, even to the States lately in insur- 
rection. The colored people, especially, felt that they 
had lost more than a father. And when the funeral 
procession of the president passed slowly by railway, 
with frequent pauses, from Washington to his former 
home in Springfield, III, it found every railway station 
filled with mourners and draped with signs of grief. 

But it showed the strength of republican government, strength 
that even this sudden death of the head of the nation ern*^en^°^ 
produced no confusion, and no new rebellion. Vice- 
president Andrew Johnson of Tennessee at once took 
the place of Mr. Lincoln ; and the wheels of govern- 
ment went on. The new president found difficult duties 
awaiting him. To be sure, some things that had seemed 
likely to be hard proved easy. It had been predicted ^^^^*^^^' ^^ 
that the volunteer army of a million men, drawn from the army, 
the people, would not easily be merged into the people 
again, but would retain warlike habits, and be danger- 
ous to the peace of the country. This fear proved 
groundless : soldiers and officers were alike glad to 
lay down their arms, and to return to the peaceful pur- 
suits whence they came. But there was a vast debt The work 
to be provided for ; and loans and taxes had to be be done, 
planned for this purpose. Then all the region lately 



324 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Opinions 
about the 
seceded 
States. 



Acts of the 
president 
and of 
Congress. 



Impeach- 
ment of 
Johnson. 



in rebellion had to be reorganized into a peaceful 
community ; and opinions varied greatly as to the best 
way of doing this. Some thought that the seceding 
States had a right to come back whenever they would, 
with their former power, and without any new condi- 
tions. Others thought that, by seceding, they had for- 
feited all rights as States, and had again become Terri- 
tories, with which the United States Government might 
do as it would. But neither of these views was fully 
adopted. 

To begin with, the president issued a proclamation 
granting amnesty, or pardon, to most of those engaged 
in the Rebellion. Then Congress established the 
Freedmen's Bureau, an organization to provide fori 
the loyal and suffering classes, black or white, of the 
Southern States. Slavery was then formally abolished 
by an amendment to the United States Constitution ; 
and another amendment was passed looking toward the 
enfranchisement of the colored people. " Reconstruc- 
tion acts" were passed, restoring the seceded States' 
to their places in the Union, on condition that they 
should annul their acts of secession, declare void all 
debts incurred in fighting for the Rebellion, and adopt 
the fourteenth amendment abolishing slavery. The 
new president was very much opposed to making anyj 
of these conditions, as he held that the seceded States 
had a right to come back at any time, unrestrained. 
He therefore vetoed several of these measures ; and, 
though they were passed over his veto, it led to an 
increasing hostility between him and Congress. Finally, 
the House of Representatives accused or " impeached " 
him, demanding his removal from office. For the first 



fl 



Johnson's administration. 325 

time in the history of the government, a president of the 
United States was put on trial before the Senate, sitting 
as a court of impeachment, with the chief justice of the 
Supreme Court presiding. In such a trial, a vote of 
two-thirds of the Senate is needed for conviction ; and^ 
as one vote was wanting to this number, Mr. Johnson 
was not removed. He was not, however, re-elected as 
president. 

During his and his predecessor's terms there had The great 

, , . 1 • 1 civil w^ar 

happened events more important than any since the and its 
United States had existed. A great civil war had been ''^^^"• 
fought and ended ; and slavery had been abolished, 
first by presidential proclamation, and then by consti- 
tutional amendment, — an event which the most far- 
sighted philanthropist had scarcely expected to live to 
see. For other events, three States had been added to west vir- 
the Union. One of these. West Virginia, had been sep- Nebraska, 
arated from the " Old Dominion," and admitted as a ^^^ Nevada 

' admitted. 

separate State, in 1863 ; this being done by request of 
the inhabitants, who were loyal throughout the war. 
The other two States were Nevada (1864), formed out 
of territory ceded by Mexico, and named from the 
Sierra Nevada, or Snowy Mountains ; and Nebraska 
(1867), formed out of the Louisiana Purchase, and 
named from an Indian word meaning " Shallow River." 
The great region called Alaska had been also pur- Purchase 
chased from the Russian Government, in 1867, for more 
than seven million dollars ($7,200,000); and, though 
not likely to be largely inhabited by any but an Esqui- 
mau population, it was expected to be of great value 
for its furs. Its area was about half a million square 
miles (577,390), and brought the whole area of the 



326 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Census 
of 1870. 



The eigh- 
teenth 
president. 



The great 

debt 

reduced. 



The fif- 
teenth 
amend- 
ment. 



Geneva 
tribunal. 



nation to about three and a half million square miles 
(3,559,091), instead of the original eight hundred thou- 
sand (820,680). Instead of the original thirteen States, 
with three millions of people, there were now thirty- 
seven States and twelve Territories, with a population 
(in 1870) of more than thirty-eight millions (38,558,371). 
The next president of the United States was Ulysses 
S. Grant of Illinois, whose great services during the civil 
war had W'On for him the gratitude of the nation. He 
was first inaugurated in 1869, and entered on a second 
term in 1873 ; but the events of his administration are 
yet too recent to be fully or fairly described. Many 
important things, however, took place during his term 
of ofhce. All the seceded States became finally 
restored to the Union. The successive steps by which 
a great increase of territory was brought about w 
be found marked on the map which is prefixed 
to this volume. The enormous debt incurred dur- 
ing the war was very greatly diminished ; more than 
one-fifth of it (six hundred million dollars) having 
been paid. An amendment to the Constitution (the 
Fifteenth), providing that the right of suffrage shall not 
be withheld from any citizen of the United States, " on 
account of race, color, or previous condition of servi- 
tude," was declared adopted March 30, 1870, having 
been proposed by Congress, and ratified by three-fourths 
of the States. A treaty was made with Great Britain 
(May 8, 187 1), providing for an international tribunal 
to be held at Geneva, which should decide all claims of 
the United States for damages done by those Confed- 
erate privateers which had been built or refitted in 
English ports. This tribunal awarded fifteen and a 



GRANT S ADMINISTRATION. 



327 



half million dollars, in gold, as the amount to be paid 
by Great Britain ; and it was accordingly paid in 1873. 
This was a result very encouraging to those who hope 
that wars will gradually cease, and the disputes of na- 
tions, like those of individuals, be left to the courts to 
settle. Never before in the history of the world was 
there so important an example of peaceful arbitration. 

Not long after the great civil war ended, the lead- Death of 
ing statesmen of the war 
passed away. President 
Lincoln himself ; William 
H. Seward, his Secretary 
of State ; Edwin M. Stan- 
ton, Secretary of War; 
Salmon P. Chase, Secre- 
tary of the Treasury, and 
afterwards Chief Justice 
of the Supreme Court ; 
and Charles Sumner, the 
leader of the United 
States Senate, — all died. 
The questions upon which 
the war turned were found 
to have been settled ; and 
new issues arose, upon some of which the political par- New 

questiona. 

ties of the future will be based. There are various ques- 
tions which are important, or are claimed as important, 
— currency reform, civil service reform, revenue reform, 
woman suffrage, the rights of labor, and matters pertain- 
ing to temperance, education, and religion. It is impos- 
sible to foresee what shape these questions may take in 
the future, which of them will prove most prominent, or 
which will lead to lasting reforms. 




CHARLES SUMNER. 



328 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



What we 
may expect. 



Our 

mechanical 

3kUL 



Literature, 
science, 
and art. 



Popular 
education. 



Summary. 



Yet some things we may safely assume. We may 
take for granted that wealth will go on increasing ; and 
that the immense activity and energy that have marked 
the American people will still continue. Much as has 
been accomplished in the way of material progress, 
more remains to be done. The Pacific Railway is now 
opened, and the Atlantic Cable successfully laid. These 
seemed, in their day, to be wonderful steps in communi- 
cation among men, but it is probable that greater won- 
ders are still in store for us. The greatest triumphs 
achieved in the United States have thus far been in the 
direction of mechanical ingenuity ; and American litera- 
ture, science, and art have not yet won the applause of 
the world quite so thoroughly as have American sewing- 
machines and agricultural implements. Yet the poetry 
of Bryant, Whittier, and Longfellow ; the prose of Irving, 
Hawthorne, and Emerson ; the scientific discoveries of 
Franklin, Morse, and Rumford ; the paintings of Copley, 
Allston, and Page ; the sculptures of Powers, Stor}^, and 
Harriet Hosmer, — have obtained great and perhaps 
permanent reputation. The spread of popular instruc- 
tion in America is very wide ; higher education is con- 
stantly on the increase ; and there is no reason why 
the United States should not become more and more the 
chosen home of literature, science, and art, as well as of 
mechanical ingenuity and business skill. 

And we can safely assume something more than this. 
Habits and opinions alter with every generation ; but 
the great principles of right and wrong do not change. 
Those who founded the American colonies left to their 
descendants many examples of noble lives and unselfish 
purposes ; and we may be very sure that those who are 



DUTY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 329 

to carry on the institutions thus founded cannot prosper 
without something of the same high motive and religious 
self-devotion. The first great mission of the nation was Proof that 
that of proving to the world that republican government of govern- 
on a large scale was practicable. In this attempt sue- ™®''* *^ * 

, / success. 

cess has been attained, in spite of the great difficulty 
resulting from the presence of slavery, and the annual 
arrival of many thousand immigrants, wholly untrained 
in republican institutions. The civil war has proved 
that the people of the United States, when at peace 
among themselves, are strong enough for self-protection 
against any foreign power. The thing now essential to 
Americans is to guard against internal as well as exter- 
nal dangers, to purify their own government, educate 
their own community, give to the world an example of 
pure lives and noble purposes ; and so conduct the 
affairs of the Republic, that, as President Lincoln said 
in his Gettysburg Address, " Government of the people, 
by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from 
the earth." 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



HAYES. 



GARFIELD. ARTHUR. HARRISON. — - 

CLEVELAND. MCKINLEY. 



Our 

Oantennial 
celebration 



G 



ENERAL GRANT served two terms as President. 
In the last year of his second term (1876) there 
took place the centennial celebration of the independence 
of the United States. All over the land there were meet- 
ings and festivals, and a great International Exhibition was 



ys^^^^^sd^ mmammkmmm: 




THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 



held at Philadelphia in honor of the event. The leading 
nations of the world sent specimens of their works ii 
science and art, to be publicly inspected and compared;] 
and prizes were given in all departments by skilled com- 
missioners from various lands. The exhibition remaine( 
330 



HAYES. GARFIELD. — ARTHUR. 



331 



open for many weeks, and was attended by vast numbers 
of people. The whole effect was to give a great impulse 
to American industry. The exhibition showed that, while 
the United States surpassed all nations in inventive skill, 
the older nations still took the lead in art education, 
and could teach us a great deal in that way. 

During this year (1876) Colorado was admitted as a Colorado 

^ ^ . . . . . admitted. 

State, making thirty-eight States with eleven Territories. 

The next presidential election took place that same The 
year, and led to much 
excitement, from the pe- 
culiar circumstances of 
the case. The Repub- 
licans nominated Ruth- 
erford B. Hayes of Ohio 
for president, and Wil- 
liam A. Wheeler of New 
York for vice-president ; 
while the Democrats 
nominated Samuel J. 
Tilden of New York and 
Thomas A. Hendricks 
of Indiana. There was also a third party, called the 
" Greenback " party, composed of those who desired to 
abolish bank-notes, and to have for currency only the 
paper money issued by the General Government and 
popularly called " greenbacks." This party nominated for 
president Peter Cooper of New York, but no electoral votes 
were thrown for him. The peculiar excitement about the The ex- 
election came from the fact that the votes of the States aboutThe 
were very closely divided between the two leading candi- ^i^'^"^^' 
dates, and the decision had to turn upon the votes of two 




RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 



332 



YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 



The return- of One. 
ing boards 



Different 
views 
about the 
action of 
these 
boards. 



doubtful States. It was generally admitted that the 
Democrats had legally chosen one hundred and eighty- 
four electors, and the Republicans one hundred and 
seventy-three ; but the four votes of Florida and the 
eight of Louisiana were in doubt. If all of these were 
to be counted for Mr. Hayes he would have a majority 
There could hardly be a closer vote. NoWj 
the " returning boards " of these two States declared that 
both States had chosen Republican electors. These 
boards were bodies of men appointed after the war by 
the laws of these States ; and they were authorized not 
merely to count the votes actually cast, but to throw out 
the votes of these neighborhoods where there had been 
violence or intimidation. This put a great deal of power, 
and a rather dangerous power, into the hands of these 
boards. The Republicans believed that this power had 
been justly exercised, but the Democrats took a very 
different view. The Democrats said that the majority of 
votes actually cast was on their side in each of these 
States, and that the returning boards had unjustly thrown 
out a great many Democratic votes which should right- 
fully have been counted. So they argued that Congress 
should refuse to treat the Republican electors as having 
been legally chosen by Louisiana or by Florida. But the 
Republicans claimed, on the other hand, that the fraud 
and violence of the Democrats in some parts of these 
States had been so great as to justify the action of the 
returning boards; and that at any rate these boards 
were the only legal bodies through which the voice of 
these States could come, and that Congress had no right 
to revise or reject their reports. 

Who should decide a question so difficult ? Unluckily. 



HAYES. GARFIELD. ARTHUR. 333 

it turned out that the makers of the Constitution had not ^ne difla- 
provided for any such state of things. The Constitution tion before 
of the United States only provides that " the president of ^°''^''^^^- 
the senate shall, in the presence of the senate and house 
of representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes 
shall then be counted." But, supposing that there is 
doubt about the legality of the vote from any State, the 
Constitution does not say who shall settle that doubt. In 
the session of 1876-7 the senate was Republican, and its 
president was Republican, while the house of representa- 
tives was Democratic. It was very clear that the two 
bodies were not likely to agree about the votes of Florida 
and Louisiana ; and who was to decide the matter ? There 
was great excitement on the subject ; and many angry 
things were said, and many people feared that the nation 
was on the verge of another civil war. But wiser coun- The 
sels prevailed, and the moderate men of both parties in commi^?-^ 
Congress hit upon a plan by which the decision was sion. 
finally made. Both houses of Congress passed an act 
establishing an " Electoral Commission," to which all 
doubtful votes should be referred. 

This body consisted of five senators, five representa- Their de- 
tives, and five justices of the Supreme Court ; and it met ^^^^°"* 
and decided, by a vote of eight to seven, that the votes of 
Florida and Louisiana must be counted just as the return- 
ing boards had reported them, because these boards had 
been legally appointed by those States, and the other 
States could not revise or reject their returns. This 
added twelve electoral votes to the Republican side, so 
that Ha3'es and Wheeler had one hundred and eighty- 
five, and Tilden and Hendricks had but one hundred and 
eighty-four, Hayes and Wheeler were therefore declared 



334 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

to be elected, and were inaugurated March 5, 1877 ; 
but the circumstances of their election left a sore feeling 
which wore away ver}^ slowly, and indeed lasted during 
Their de- the wholc of President Hayes's administration. If the 
unanimous. " Elcctoral Commissiou " had been unanimous in its de- 
cision, there would have been much less of this feeling ; 
but this close vote of eight to seven did not satisfy every- 
body, especially as all the eight were Republicans and 
all the seven were Democrats. It was, however, gener- 
ally admitted that the matter was settled, and that Mr. 
Hayes was legally the President ; but there was left a 
bitterness, very unlike the feeling of good nature which 
Importance usually cxists in thc United States after an election. This 

of a new r , • ^ ■, i i • r i 

law. State of thmgs also showed the importance or some clearer 

and more definite law as to counting electoral votes in 
Presidential elections. Usually, in a republican govern- 
ment, a minority is very willing to submit to a majority ; 
but there is always dissatisfaction unless it is known that 
the majority of votes has been fairly obtained. When 
a vote is very evenly divided, and the defeated party 
can point to anything that even looks like unfairness, 
men usually find it quite hard to keep their tempers. 

The policy Under these circumstances the administration of Mr. 

of the new 

president. Haycs began with an unusual amount of distrust and ill 
feeling. It was fortunate, therefore, that the new presi- 
dent was a man of unusually mild and conciliatory 
disposition, and seemed very desirous to do justice to all. 
He had announced, when first nominated, that he should 
not be a candidate for re-election ; and he began by 
making up his cabinet partly from both parties, a very 
uncommon thing. He showed a similar spirit in his early 
appointments to office. This gave great offence to sosae 



HAYES. — GARFIELD. — ARTHUR. 335 

of his warmest supporters, but was approved by the 
nation as a whole. His next step was to withdraw all 
United States troops from the State-houses of any States 
formerly in rebellion, and to prohibit the interference of 
United States troops with the elections in those States. 
General Grant had begun this policy in Mississippi ; but 
President Hayes completed it, even in South Carolina, 
where there had been the greatest complaints, and 
where many people still believed that the nation ought 
to interfere. This course was very much criticised at 
the time, but the President was firm in it ; for, as he 
reasoned, these States were not now subject to the laws 
of war ; they had been readmitted as States, and could 
not be treated as conquered territory. They must be 
controlled by the State governments and courts, except 
on matters expressly reserved to the national govern- 
ment ; and, if any part of the people was wronged, time 
and the courts must set the matter right. 

The result has proved that this course was wise, on the Better 

times at 

whole. Those States have steadily grown more peaceful the south 
since that time ; and, where injustice has been shown 
toward the colored people, many of them have taken the 
remedy into their own hands, and have removed into 
some other State in hopes of better treatment. Many 
of them went to Kansas especially, where they were 
welcomed as settlers. But time has gradually diminished 
the sore feeling between the two races in the Southern 
States; and these States were never before, on the 
whole, prosperous and orderly as now. In the largest 
of them, — Virginia, — there has lately been a change of 
the old parties ; and the white citizens have shown them- 
selves quite willing that their former slaves should vote. 



33^ 



Census of 
1880. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

At a late election in Virginia the successful party, 
called the " Readjuster " party, was elected largely by 
the votes of the colored people. 

This prosperity has been shared by the whole nation. 
The census of 1880 showed an enormous increase of 
population in the United States, and there was no State 
or Territory which did not share this increase in a 
greater or less degree. Between 1870 and 1880 the 




GOING WEST. 



whole population increased from about thirty-eight and a 
a half millions (38,558,371) to more than fifty millions 
(50)^55'7S3)j this being a gain of more than a million a 
year. This estimate includes all persons residing within 
the limits of the United States, except the Indians 
within the Indian Territory, or supported elsewhere by 
the general government, and the inhabitants of Alaska. 
These are omitted because they are not regarded as 
being legally "citizens" of the United States. 



HAYES. GARFIELD. 



ARTHUR. 



337 



Great as this increase has been, it is probable that the ^^"^ ""^v^^ 

increase in 

results of the next census in 1890 will be yet more sur- popxiiatioa 
prising. The facts as to immigration alone are enough 
to show that the population of the United States. is now 
increasing faster than ever before. During the five years 
preceding 1880, the number of foreign immigrants into 
this country never reached half a million a year. In 




ANTS LAXI'INi 



AT CASTLE GARDEN. 



1880 it rose to 593,703 ; and in 1881, to 720,045. These 
immigrants now come more largely from Germany than 
from anywhere else. In 1881 there were 249,572 from 
Germany, 95,188 from Canada, 91,810 from Scandinavia 
(Norway, Sweden, and Denmark), 76,547 from England, 
and 70,909 from Ireland. These immigrants now go grantTno^^ 
most largely to the States west of the Mississippi; some ^^J'^^^^/ 
to Kansas and Colorado, there to engage in mining or issippi. 



338 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The public 
debt. 



Resump- 
tion of 
specie 
payments. 



cattle-raising ; some to Texas, where there is an immense 
extent of fertile country, under a mild climate ; and some 
to the new States of the North-west, where the wheat 
crop is found to be very abundant in spite of cold 
weather. Railways are being rapidly extended in all 
these directions, and there are already several of these 
great lines across the continent, instead of one, as at 
first. 

This great increase of population has been only one 
evidence of the general prosperity of the nation. An- 
other evidence of this has been the rapid payment of 
the public debt, which has gone on pretty steadily since 
the civil war closed. On July i, 1865, this debt (after 
deducting cash in the treasury) was nearly three billion 
dollars ($2,756,431,571); whereas, on March i, 1882, it 
was about one billion and three-quarters ($1,742,729,- 
369.10), more than a billion dollars having been paid. 
On Aug. I, 1884, the total debt remaining (after de- 
ducting cash in the treasury) was $1,446,056,946.97, 
or less than a billion and a half, more than half of 
this great debt having been paid. Not only is the total 
amount of debt much diminished, but the rate of inter- 
est now paid on the remainder is very much lower than 
it was. The nation is now receiving, in taxes and duties, 
much more than is needed for the annual expenses of 
the government ; and before long, at the present rate 
of progress, it will have paid all its debt, and be abie to 
reduce its taxes. 

Another great advantage is that " specie-payments " 
have been restored. During the war the value of our 
national paper currency depreciated so much that a dollar 
in gold was worth in July, 1864, two dollars and eighty- 



HAYES. GARFIELD. ARTHUR. 



339 



five cents in bank-notes. For nearly eighteen years 
neither the banks, nor the government, nor any private 
person would give a dollar in gold for a paper dollar ; 
and the " promise to pay," upon the paper dollar seemed 
to mean very little. But the difference grew gradually 
less and less: and finally, on the ist of January, 1879, 
specie payments were resumed ; and ever since that time 
any one who has a dollar in paper can obtain for it a 
gold or silver dollar at any time without any difficulty. 

Another evidence of prosperity is to be found in the increased 
increased industry of the nation. In 1878 this country of°he^"*' 
imported one-third less goods from abroad than in 1873, ^^*^°^- 
— and this was partly because the people had learned 
to produce the same things themselves. Formerly almost 
every watch used in America was made in Europe ; now 
the American watches rival European watches in the 
markets on the other side of the ocean. Formerly we 
imported a great deal of certain products of industry, 
such as medicines, perfumery, combs, soap, writing-paper, 
glassware, musical instruments, carriages, and furniture; 
now we supply ourselves almost wholly with these things, 
and send many of them abroad. Formerly the greater 
part of our cutlery and tools came from Sheffield in 
England ; now^ American knives and tools are sold in 
Sheffield at a price lower than those made there. Be- 
tween 1873 and 1878 our importation of foreign cottons 
and woollens fell off one-half ; that of manufactured 
steel fell to one-third of what it had been ; that of rail- 
road iron to one-fifth of what it had been ; that of car- 
pets to one-tenth of what it had been ; and all this time 
the exportation of provisions, especially of beef and grain, 
went on growing greater and greater. Before the aboli- 



340 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Decline lu 
our ship- 
ping inter- 
ests. 



tion of slavery it was supposed that without slave labo 
there could be no cotton crop ; but more cotton is nov 
raised and exported by the aid of free labor than wa: 
ever the case under slavery. 

All branches of industry have gradually flourished mon 
and more, except that of ship-building and ship-owning 
the American nation has never to this day regained tht 
prosperity that it once had in these ways. This camt 
partly from the war, when foreign commerce under Amer 
ican flags almost stopped ; and partly from the change 
from wooden to iron vessels. America has great advan 
tages for building wooden vessels, but European nations 
especially England, have great advantages for building 
iron vessels ; so that all the great steamers which no\^ 
cross the Atlantic are built and owned in Europe. It u 
hoped that at some time and in some way our old com 

mercial prosperity will be 
restored. Until this is done 
it cannot be claimed thai 
the welfare of the natior 
in business matters is ir 
all respects complete. 

In the national election 
of 1880 the Republicans 
nominated James A. Gar- 
field of Ohio for president, 
and Chester A. Arthur of 
New York for vice-presi- 
JAMES A. GARFIELD. ^gnt. Thc Dcmocrats nom- 

inated Winfield S. Hancock of New York for president, 
and William H. English of Indiana for vice-president ; 
and the " Greenback " party and several smaller parties 




HAYES. GARFIELD. — ARTHUR. 341 

also made nominations. The Republican candidate was 
elected by a decided majority of electoral votes, so that 
there was none of the bitter feeling which had been left 
by the previous election. President Garfield was inaug- The 
urated March 4, 1881, and there was a general feeling of president 
hopefulness and prosperity, when the nation was startled 
by a great shock. On July 2, 188 1, while waiting for a 
train in the railway-station at Washington, President 
Garfield was shot and mortally wounded by an unknown 
stranger named Charles J. Guiteau. The President was 
at once taken to the White House, where he lingered 
between life and death for many weeks, amid the anxiety 
of the whole people. 

Durinp^ all this period the courao^e and patience ^he an?«;». 
showed by the sufferer, and also by his heroic wife, people, 
were so great as to command peculiar respect and ad- 
miration. Day by day the telegraphic reports sent out 
by the physicians were read with the deepest interest, not 
only throughout the United States, but all over Eu- 
rope. The state of the President's pulse, of his diges- 
tion, the temperature of his body, the condition of his 
mind, — all these things were reported by telegraph to 
anxious multitudes day by day. After eleven weeks of 
suffering the President died (Sept. 19, 188 1) at Elberon, 
New Jersey, whither he had been removed ; and then 
the mournino^ was universal. The story of his life was Respect 

. . , . paid to hi? 

told again and again, — how he had risen from the posi- memory. 

tion of a poor boy, through long and faithful service in 

the camp and in Congress, to the presidency of the na- 
I tion. He seemed at the time of his death to be as well 
1 known and as much honored in Europe as in America ; 

and in England especially his death created a feeling 



342 



-^OUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Tbe assas- 
sin of the 
president. 



The twen- 
ty-first 
president. 



that showed itself through all classes of society. Five 
hundred different British societies and corporations 
passed resolutions in his honor ; the English court went 
into mourning; and Queen Victoria, after repeated 
messages of sympathy to Mrs. Garfield, sent a wreath of 
honor to be placed upon his coffin. 

His death was not the result of any conspiracy, noi 
did it proceed, like Lincoln's, from any political hostility; 
it was the act of one misguided man, who was angry at 

being refused an office. This 
fact created a new desire to 
have some better system of 
appointments to office, so 
that the president need not, 
as now, be responsible for 
them all. The murderer 
was tried and suffered 
death, although his counsel 
tried to prove that he was 
insane at the time of the 
assault. 

Vice - President Arthui 
succeeded to the presidency, taking the oath of office a1 
New York (Sept. 20, 188 1), and again, more formally, 
two days after, at Washington. For the first time in 
twenty years the inaugural address contained no refer- 
ence to the Southern States as a distinct part of the 
nation. This signified that the long sectional contest, 
growing out of slavery, was at an end. Whatever evih 
might be left for the American people to deal with, the 
greatest evil was overcome. The nation was reunited, 
and was at peace with all the world. 




CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 



ELECTION OF MR. CLEVELAND. 



343 



President Arthur served out his term of office, during 
which time the nation was at peace and no new States 
were added to the Union. For the presidential elec- 
tion of 1884, the Republican National Convention 
nominated James G. Blaine of Maine as President, and 
John A. Logan of Illinois as Vice-President ; while the 
Democratic convention nominated Grover Cleveland 
of New York and Thomas A. Hendricks of Indiana. 
The Democratic candidates received 219 electoral 
votes, and their opponents 
but 182 ; so that the Repub- 
lican party was defeated, 
after twenty-four years of 
power. Candidates were also 
nominated, at this election, 
by the prohibitory tempe- 
rance party, and by the " citi- 
zens' " or "greenback "party, 
but these obtained no electo- 
ral votes. President Cleve- 
land was inaugurated March 
4, 1885, with Mr. Hendricks 

as Vice-President, who, however, died Nov. 25, 1885. Cleveland 
After his death, a law was passed by Congress, provid- 
ing that in case of the deaths of both President and 
Vice-President, the Secretary of State should be the 
successor to the Presidency. A law had been pre- 
viously passed, known as the " Civil Service Act," 
under which the appointments to certain offices should 
thenceforth be made by competitive examination ; the 
object of this law being to diminish arbitrary changes 
in office and secure greater permanence. 




PRESIDENT CLEVELAND. 



Inaugura- 
tion of 
President 



344 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



The Tariff. 



Presi- 
dential 
Election of 
\888. 



largely I 



There was much discussion of the tariff question 
during Preside^it Cleveland's administration — the ques- 
tion being, mainly, whether high duties should be placed 
on many imported articles, with a view to encouraging 
American manufactures; or whether low duties should , 
be levied on such articles, with the object of making il 
prices cheaper for the people at large. As a rule, the 
Republican party favors a higher tariff — that is, higher . 
duties — than the Democratic party. At the close of jl 
President Cleveland's administration, the tariff ques- 
tion became more and more important, so that the 
next presidential election (1888) turned very 
upon it. 

In 1888, the Democratic party again nominated 
Grover Cleveland of New York ; and this time with 
Allen G. Thurman of Ohio as vice-president. The Re- 
publican party nominated for 
president Benjamin Harrison 
of Indiana, grandson of a pre- 
vious president ; and for vice- 
president, Levi P. Morton of 
New York. There were also, 
as usual, several nominations 
by minor parties, but the Re- 
publican ticket was success- 
ful, having the majority of 
votes in the electoral college, 
though not a majority of the 
total popular vote. Messrs. 
Morton were duly inaugurated, March 




BENJAMIK HARRISON. 

Harrison and 
4, 1889. 



Near the end of President Cleveland's administra* 



CLEVELAND. — HARRISON. 345 

tion (Feb. 22, 1889) he signed a territorial bill toNewstates. 
admit four new States — North and South Dakota, kota, south 
Montana and Washington — whenever they should S.^^°*^' 

" J Montana, 

form satisfactory State constitutions. This condition wasMng- 
having been complied with, these four States were 
admitted by proclamation of President Harrison in 
November, 1889, in the above order. In July, 1890, idaho, 
Idaho and Wyoming were also admitted as States of y°^^"^- 
the Union, thus making the whole number of States ** states, 
forty-four. Among these, Wyoming was especially re- 
markable as being the first new State whose consti- 
tution gave the right of suffrage to women on the 
same terms with men, an example since followed by 
Colorado, Idaho and Utah. Besides these States, a new 
territory, Oklahoma, was created (1890) out of a por- J^^^ '^^^^'' 
tion of what had heretofore been the Indian Territory. Oklahoma. 

In 1892 the Democratic party nominated Grover 
Cleveland of New York for the third time as its can- 
didate for president, with Adlai E. Stevenson of Uli-presiden- 
nois as vice-president. The Republican party again ^'1"^^^.^^^ 
nominated Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, with White- 1892. 
law Reid of New York as vice-president. The election 
again turned mainly upon the tariff question, but with 
a very different result from that of four years before. 
Cleveland and Stevenson were elected by a large ma- 
jority in the electoral college; and for the first time 
in many years the Democratic party obtained control 
of all branches of the government. 

The Chicago Exposition, or World's Fair, was opened world's 
in May, 1893, the buildings and grounds having, how-^^'''- 
ever, been formally dedicated on October 21, 1892, 
which day was celebrated all over the country under the 



346 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Party 
change. 



New- 
questions. 



Silver 
coinage. 



Monroe 
Doctrine. 



Venezuela. 



Cuba. 



name of Columbus Day, The Exposition surprised 
every one, not merely by its vast size, — one of the build- 
ings covering more than thirty acres, — but by the 
beauty and originality of its architecture and design ; 
and it was attended by a very large number of people. 

The agitation of the tariff question was continued 
under President Cleveland's second administration, 
and in 1894 brought about another political change, 
the elections of that year restoring both houses of 
Congress to the practical control of the Republican 
party, while the president remained a Democrat. Sev- 
eral new questions also came forward into great im- 
portance. One of these was the question whether the 
government should coin silver freely, as it had before 
done ; in other words, whether gold only, or both gold 
and silver, should be the standard of our money sys- 
tem. Another question was that of what is called the 
" Monroe Doctrine," which asserts the right of the 
United States to protect other American states from 
European interference. This was brought up by a 
message of President Cleveland in December, 1895, 
in which he called attention to a dispute between the'- 
British and Venezuelan governments, in reference to 
a doubtful boundary between Venezuela and British 
Guiana, and pointed out that it might be necessary for 
the United States to take part in the affair. Another 
and a similar discussion took place in regard to an 
insurrection in Cuba, about which public opinion was^ 
much divided, as to whether this country should ini 
any way interfere. 

During Mr. Cleveland's second administration, th( 
State of Utah was admitted into the Union (th( 



CLEVELAND. — HARRISON. ^ 347 

president's proclamation being issued on Jan. 4, 1896) 345 states. 
thus making the whole number of States forty-five. 

In 1896 the presidential election turned mainly upon The Presi- 
the silver question, the Democratic candidates for presi- Election, 
dent (VVm. J. Bryan of Nebraska) and for vice-presi- 
dent (Arthur Sewall of Maine) being nominated on 
the ground of free coinage of silver and a mixed stand- 
ard of the two metals, silver ranking with gold at the 
rate of 16 ounces to i. This divided the Democratic 
party, a portion of which, under the name of Gold 
Democrats, nominated separate candidates for presi- 
dent and vice-president, while others among them 
voted directly for the Republican candidates, who were 
William McKinley of Ohio, for president, and Garrett 
A. Hobart of New Jersey, for vice-president. The 
latter ticket was successful and Mr. McKinley became 
the twenty-fifth President of the United States. 

The year 1898 brought affairs in Cuba to a crisis Spanish 
and this ended in a war with Spain, having most 
important consequences. Spain had oppressed Cuba 
cruelly and the American Government had remon- 
strated against this again and again. Spain had 
promised more humane conduct, but had done little, 
beyond sending a less tyrannical general to command 
her army; and, while the excitement on the subject in 
this country was increasing, the news arrived that the 
American battleship " Maine " had been blown up in the Destrue- 
harbor of Havana on February 15th. It was generally Jj°^^°f'^^ 
believed that this had been done by the explosion of a 
Spanish mine, and although the real authors of this 
have never been brought to light, yet the circumstance 
made great excitement in the United States and 



348 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

hastened the decision of Congress to autliorize the 
President to intervene in Cuba. On April 20th Presi- 
dent McKinley demanded of Spain that Cuba should 
be evacuated by her armies, and on April 22d he pro- 
claimed a blockade of the principal ports of the island. 
Congress appropriated $50,000,000 for the prose- 
cution of the war, and a call was issued for 125,000 
volunteers to serve three years and another call, a 
month later, for 75,000 more. These were gradually 
collected in camps in many of the Southern States, 
especially in Florida. Commodore Dewey commanding 
the American squadron in the China seas was ordered 
to destroy the Spanish fleet near Manila, as soon as 
possible, for the safety of the American commerce 
Capture of and Sailed on May ist into Manila harbor, without 
Manila. regard to forts and mines, and destroyed a whole 
Spanish fleet without losing one of his men, thus giv- 
ing him power over Manila, the chief city of the 
Philippine Islands, supposed to be more than twelve 
hundred in number. Meanwhile another Spanish 
fleet, under Admiral Cervera, left the Cape de Verde 
Islands, April 29th, but no one knew where it was 
going. There was at first a fear lest it was meant to 
attack American towns on the Atlantic coast. A 
special squadron of defence was organized for this 
purpose, while Commodore Sampson was put in charge 
of a blockading squadron in Cuban waters. Admiral 
Cervera's fleet entered the harbor of Santiago in Cuba, 
where the American fleet kept it shut up. Naval Con- 
structor Hobson sank a large coal steamer in the 
narrow channel but did not quite obstruct the passage. 
On June loth, 600 marines were landed by the navy 



THE WAR WITH SPAIN. 

near Santiago. The Fifth Army Corps, commanded by Battles at 
General Shafter, reached Santiago June 20th and q^^*^*'^^"* 
June 24th the advance of the army upon that city 
began with a fight in which the principal part was taken 
by the Tenth U. S. Cavalry (colored) and by the First 
Volunteer Cavalry, commonly called the " Rough 
Riders," commanded by Colonel Wood and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Roosevelt. A week later Generals Lawton 
and Kent took El Caney and San Juan Hill, with the 
loss of some fifteen hundred killed and wounded. In 
this and other fights the Spaniards had better arms 
and smokeless powder, but the Americans were better 
marksmen and had more dash and courage. 

Meanwhile a large American battleship, the "Oregon," voyage of 

o ' ^j^g Oregon, 

sailed from the Pacific coast round Cape Horn and 
joined Admiral Sampson's fleet. On July 3d Admiral 
Cervera seeing capture inevitable made a dash out of 
the harbor with all his fleet, and was attacked by the 
American squadron under Commodore Schley. Every 
Spanish vessel was sunk or disabled, without the loss cervera's 
of an American ship. By these two remarkable vie- gt^^^oye^' 
tories the naval power of Spain was practically de- 
stroyed and that of the United States became famous. 
Santiago was surrendered July 15th, but the further 
occupation of Cuba was postponed for a time. On 
July 25th General Miles landed with an army on the 
south coast of Porto Rico, and afterwards 30,000 
troops sailed from San Francisco for Manila under 
General Merritt, capturing on their way the Island of 
Guam, in the Ladrones. 

On July 26th the Spanish Government, through the Treaty of 
French Ambassador at Washington, asked President ^^^'^®' 

349* 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Close of 
Spanisli 
War. 



Hawaiian 

Islands 

Annexed. 



McKinley for terms of peace. He gave as his terms 
the independence of Cuba, the cession of Porto Rico 
and of one of the Ladrones, and, moreover, the reten- 
tion of Manila at least until it should be settled what 
should be the permanent position of the Philippine 
Islands. In the meanwhile Manila had itself sur- 
rendered to Admiral Dewey before the peace negotia- 
tions were known to him. On August 14th hostilities' 
ceased, the war having lasted 114 days. During this 
whole period much good had been done, both to the 
starving inhabitants of Cuba and to the American 
troops themselves, by the association known as the 
Red Cross, under Miss Clara Barton. 

American Commissioners, being sent to Paris for the 
purpose, made a treaty with Spain (December 10) 
which gave the entire Philippine group to the United 
States on payment of $20,000,000 to Spain, while 
minor commissioners in Cuba and Porto Rico made 
arrangements for the transfer of those islands from 
Spanish control. This treaty was approved by the 
United States Senate on February 6, 1899. 

During the war Congress had adopted (July 7) a 
resolution annexing the Hawaiian Islands, this being 
a measure which had previously passed some years 
before but had been vetoed by President Cleveland. 
All these events made the United States a world- 
power instead of a merely continental power ; and 
made the nation particularly strong on the Pacific 
Ocean. This will have a marked influence on 
the whole future destiny of our people. One 
indirect result of the war was to bring about very 
cordial relations between this country and England, 
350* 



RESULTS OF SPANISH WAR. 



which was understood to be our friend through the 
whole contest, while the other European nations were 
supposed to have very little sympathy with the cause of 
the United States. 
At the presiden- 
tial election in 1900 
the Demo era ti c 
candidate, William 
Jennings Bryan of 
Nebraska was again 
nominated for pres- 
ident, the candi- 
dates named with 
him for the vice- 
presidency varying 
in different locali- 
ties. President 
M c Ki n ley was 
nominated as the 
Republican candi- 
date and was re elected, but had served only a few days mckih ley's 
over six months when he was struck down by the ^Jj''*'°'' 
hand of an assassin on Sept. 6, 1901 ; his death ensuing Assassma- 
on Sept. 14. The assault took place in the Temple of 
Music at the Pan-American Exposition held at Buffalo, 
N. Y. His administration had been popular, on the 
whole, and he was remarkably free from personal ene- 
mies. No political conspiracy had taken place, but 
the fatal act proceeded from the impulse of an indi- 
vidual of foreign birth and apparently disordered mind, 
named Leon Czolgosz, who was subsequently convic- 
ted and executed. No previous death of an American 

351* 




WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



president, not even that of Lincoln, had produced 
anything Hke the excitement which followed this event 
throughout the civilized world, the feeling in England 
being peculiarly marked and sympathetic. President 
McKinley was at once succeeded in office by Theodore 
Roosevelt of New York, who had been previously 
elected as vice-president and was a man already 

much better known 
in public life than 
vice-presidents are 
wont to be. His 
energy of character 
soon made itself 
felt; he was per- 
sonally popular and 
in his hands the 
general tone of the 
government was 
frank and manly. 
The foreign rela- 
tions, which were 
becoming some- 
what complex, were 
simplified and vig- 
orously maintained. 
Thetwenty-The Cubau problem was solved by a strict fulfilment of 
President. Original pledges, ending in the transfer of Cuba to a 
self-elected government of its own, May 20, 1902. 

The Philippine war is being much less easily settled 
than the Cuban war, inasmuch as the resistance of the 
native tribes has been greatly prolonged and opinions 
still vaiy somewhat as to its probable result. Public 

352* 




Copiirhjht, 189S, Rorlwood, X.T. 

THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 



The 

Philippine 
Waro 



RESULTS OF SPANISH WAR. 

opinion is still much divided as to the enlargement 
of the nation by warlike means. Some point to the 
example of England and think that it is possible to 
benefit nations regarded as our inferiors by conquering 
and governing them, while others think that all such 
forcible extensions of territory are injurious to us and 
unjust to subject races and that our constitution and 
mode of government are not favorable to it. No one 
can yet predict the end of all this. As to the general 
prosperity of the country, it has never been greater 
than throughout these excitements. As to the progress 
in population, the census of 1900 gives a total popula- 
tion of 76,303,387, while that of 1890 was 62, 622, 250, 



Census 
jaeturns. 



353' 



I 



APPENDIX. 



I. 

BOOKS FOR CONSULTATION, 



GENERAL WORKS. 

Bancroft's, Hildretlvs, McMaster's, and Rhodes's " United States." 
Ploetz's Manual of History (American portion). 

EARLY INHABITANTS. 

History. — Squier and Davis's " Ancient Monuments " (Smithsonian Con- 
tributions, vol. i.). 

Baldwin's " Ancient America." 

Foster's " Prehistoric Races of America.'' 

Jones's " Mound-Builders of Tennessee." 

Shaler's " Time of the Mammoths " (" American Naturalist," iv. 148). 
rict'wu. — Matthew's " Behemoth ; a Legend of the Mound-Builders." 

AMERICAN INDIANS. 

History. — Schoolcraft's " History and Condition of the Indian Tribes." 

Parkman's "Jesuits in America" (Introduction). 

H. H. Bancroft's " Native Races of the Pacific Coast." 

Ellis's " The Red Man and the White Man." 
Fictio7i. — Cooper's " Leatherstocking Tales." 
foetry. — Longfellow's " Hiawatha." 

Whittier's " Bridal of Pennacook." 

DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS. 

History. — Prescott's " Conquest of Mexico." 

Parkman's " Pioneers of France in the New World " and " Discovery 

of the Great West." 
T. Irving's " Conquest of Florida." 
Anderson's " Discovery of America by the Northmen." 



3 so YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

Voyages and Travels. — Hakluyt's " Voyages touching the Discovery of 
America." 

Kohl's " Discovery of the East Coast of America " (Maine Hist. Soc, 
2d ser., vol. i.). 
Biography. — W. Irving's " Columbus " and " Companions of Columbus." 
fiction. — Ballantyne's " Norsemen of the West " [Norsemen]. 

Bird's " Calavar " and " Infidel " [Mexico]. 

Wallace's "Fair God" [Mexico]. 

Simms's " Damsel of Darien " [Balboa], " Vascoiisefos " [De Soto], 
and " The Lily and the Totem." 
Poetry. — Whittier's " Norsemen." 

Longfellow's " Skeleton in Armor." 

Barlow's " Columbiad." 

Lowell's " Columbus." 

Rogers's " Columbus." 

NEW ENGLAND COLONIAL HISTORY. 

History. — Palfrey's and Elliott's " New England." 
State Histories: Williamson's " Maine." 

Belknap's " New Hampshire." 

Thompson's " Vermont." 

Barry's " Massachusetts." 

Arnold's " Rhode Island." 

Trumbull's " Connecticut." 
Young's " Chronicles of the Pilgrims " and " Chronicles of Mass'tts." 
Lodge's " English Colonies in America." 
Cheever's " Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth." 
Banvard's " Plymouth and the Pilgrims." 
Upham's " History of Witchcraft." 
Mather's " Magnalia." 
Biography. — Winthrop's " Life and Letters." 

Sparks's "American Biographies:" Vane (vol. iv.), Mather (vi.), 

Phips (vii.), Williams (xiv), Gorton (xv.). 
Fiction. — Miss Sedgwick's *' Hope Leslie," " New England Tale," and 

« Redwood." 
Mrs. Child's " Hobomok." 
Hawthorne's " Scarlet Letter," and " Legends of the Old Province 

House " (in " Twice Told Tales "). 
Thompson's " Green Mountain Boys." 
Motley's " Merry Mount." 
Mrs. Cheney's " Peep at the Pilgrims." 
Mrs. Lee's " Naomi." 
Holland's " Bay Path." 
Whittier's " Margaret Smith's Journal." 
Sears's " Pictures of the Olden Time." 



BOOKS FOR CONSULTATION. 35 f 

Poetry. — Longfellow's "John Endicott,'' " Giles Corey," and " Courtship 

of Miles Standish." 
Whittier's " Changeling," " Wreck of Rivermouth," " Exiles," and 

" Cassandra Southwick." 
Pierpont's " Pilgrim Fathers." 
Mrs. Hemans's "Landing of the Pilgrims." 

COLONIAL HISTORY OF MIDDLE STATES, 

History. — State Histories: Brodhead's and O'Callaghan's " New York." 
Whitehead's " New Jersey." 
Sypher's " Pennsylvania." 
Irving's " Knickerbocker's New York." 
Biography. — Clarkson's and Dixon's " Penn." 

Sparks's "American Biographies:" Cleveland's "Hudson (vol. x.), 
Ellis's "Penn" (xxii.). 
Fiction. — Irving's " Wolfert's Roost'' and "Rip Van Winkle" (in 
"Sketch Book"). 
Paulding's "Dutchman's Fireside" and " Book of St. Nicholas." 
Cooper's " Last of the Mohicans," " Water-Witch,'' and " Satanstoe." 
Mrs. Grant's " Memoirs of an American Lady." 
Myers's " First of the Knickerbockers " and " Young Patroon." 
Bird's " Hawks of Hawk-Hollow." 

COLONIAL HISTORY OF SOUTHERN STATES. 

History. — Smith's " True Relation of Virginia " (reprinted, Boston, 
1866). 

State Histories : McSherry's " Maryland." 
Campbell's " Virginia." 
Williamson's " North Carolina." 
Ramsay's " South Carolina." 
Jones's " Georgia." 

Jefferson's " Notes on Virginia." 

Fiske's " Old Virginia and Her Neighbors." 
Biography. — "Sparks's "American Biographies-." Smith (ii.), Ogle- 
thorpe (xii.), Calvert (xix.). 
Fiction. — Thackeray's "Virginians." 

Cooke's " Virginia Comedians." 

James's " Old Dominion." 

Caruthers' " Cavaliers of Virginia " and " Knights of the Horseshoe.' 

Defoe's " Jaques " [Virginia]. 

Miss Johnston's " Prisoners of Hope " and " To Have and to Hold." 

Paulding's "Konigsmark" [Maryland]. 

Kennedy's " Rob of the Bowl" [Maiyland]. 
Poetry. — Mrs. Sigourney's " Pocahontas." 



352 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 



INDIAN WARS. 

History. — Drake's " Book of the Indians " and " Indian Wars." 

Parkman's "Conspiracy of Pontiac." 

Morgan's " League of tlie Iroquois." 

Warburton's '• Conquest of Canada." 
Biography. — Sparks's "American Biographies:" Lives of Eliot (v.)- 

Brainerd (viii.), Mason (xiii.). 
Fiction. — Cooper's "Last of the Mohicans" [Fort William Henry], 

Thackeray's " Virginians" [Braddock and Quebec]. 

James's " Ticonderoga." 

Tiffany's *' Brandon." 

Hall's "Twice Taken" [Louisburg]. 
Poetry. — Longfellow's " Evangeline." 

Whittier's "Pentucket," "St. John," "Mary Garvin," "Mogg Megone." 

REVOLUTION. 

History. — Winsor's " Reader's Handbook of the Revolution." 

Lossing's " Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution." 

Frothingham's "Siege of Boston " and " Rise of the Republic." 
Biography. — Sparks's " Washington " and " Franklin." 

Irving's " Washington." 

Franklin's "Autobiography." 

Parton's " Franklin," "Jefferson," and " Burr." 

Parker's " Historic Americans." 

C. F. Adams's " Life of John Adams," and "John Adams's Diary." 

Goodrich's " Lives of Signers of the Declaration." 

G. W. Greene's "Life of General Greene." 

Wirt's " Patrick Henry." Mackenzie's " Paul Jones." 

Sparks's "American Biographies:" Lives of Stark (i.), Allen (i.), 
Arnold (iii.), Pulaski (xii.). 
Fiction. — CooY>^f?> "Spy," "Pilot," "Lionel Lincoln," "Wyandotte," 
and "Chain-Bearer." 

Motley's " Morton's Hope." 

Mrs. Child's " Rebels." 

Dr. Weir Mitchell's " Hugh Wynne." 

Miss Sedgwick's " Linwoods." 

Kennedy's " Horse-Shoe Robinson." 

Simms's " Mellichampe" and " Partisan." 

Ford's "Janice Meredith." 

Churchill's " Richard Carvel." 

Hawthorne's " Septimius Felton." 
Poetry. — Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride." 

Bryant's " Song of Marion's Men." 



BOOKS FOR CONSULTATION. 353 

Poetry, — Whittier's " Rangers." 
Trumbull's " McFingal." 
Calvert's " Arnold and Andrd." 
Moore's " Songs and Ballads of the Revolution." 



FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. 

History. — Cooper's " History of the Navy of the United States." 

Griswold's "Court of Washington." 

Lossing's " Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 181 2." 

Wilson's " Rise and Fall of the Slave Power." 

Giddings's " Exiles of Florida." 

Mayer's " History of the Mexican War." 

Jay's " Review of the Mexican War." 

Dunlop's " History of the Arts of Design in America." 

Duyckinck's " American Literature." 
Biography. — (Z. F. Adams's "Life of J. Q. Adams," "Diary" of J. Q. A. 

Mrs. Adams's " Letters." 

Parton's "Jackson." 

E. Quincy's " Josiah Quincy." 

Sparks's "American Biographies:" Fulton (x), Fitch (xvi.), Decatur 
(xxi.), Boone (xxiii.). 

Benton's " Thirty Years' View." 

" American Statesmen " (series). 

Frothingham's " Theodore Parker." 

Sanborn's and Hinton's "John Brown." 
rmz'^/i-. — " Lewis and Clarke's Expedition.'' 
Fiction. — Wirt's " Letters of a British Spy." 

Judd's " Margaret" [New England]. 

Pauldmg's "Westward Ho" [Virginians in Kentucky]. 

Bird's " Nick of the Woods" [Indians and Kentucky settlers]. 

Kennedy's " Swallow Barn" [Virginia]. 

Charles Brockden Brown's Novels. 

Smith's " Jack Downing." 

Hall's " Legends of the West." 

Mrs. Stowe's " Minister's Wooing," " Uncle Tom's Cabin," " Dred." 

Gait's " Lawrie Todd " [Western emigration]. 

Hildreth's " White Slave." 
Poetry. — Colton's " Tecumseh." 

Street's " Osceola." 

Lowell's " Biglow Papers " (first series : Mexican War). 

Whittier's " Angels of Buena Vista" and " Anti-slavery Poems." 



354 YOUNG FOi^KS UNITED STATES. 



CIVIL WAR. 

History. — Moore's " Rebellion Record." 

Greeley's " American Conflict." 

Ropes's "Story of the Civil War." 

Pollard's " Lost Cause " (Confederate). 

" Campaigns of the Civil War " (series). 

Nichols's " Story of the Great March." 

Coffin's "Following the Flag" and "My Days and Nights on the 
Battlefield." 

Higginson's " Army Life in a Black Regiment." 
Biography. — Badeau's " Military History of General Grant." 

Bowman's and Irwin's " Sherman and his Campaigns." 

Headley's " Farragut and our Naval Commanders." 

Pollard's "Jefferson Davis." 

Storey's " Sumner." 

Holland's and Raymond's " Lincoln." 

Chesney's " Military Biographies " (Grant, Lee, Farragut). 

Higginson's " Harvard Memorial Biographies " (Memoirs of Harvard 
Students and Graduates in the War). 
Fiction. — Mrs. Child's " Romance of the Republic." 

Trowbridge's " Cudjo's Cave," " Three Scouts," and " Drummer Boy." 

De Forest's " Miss Ravenel's Conversion." 

Coffin's " Winning his Way." 

Mrs. Austin's " Dora Darling." 
poetry. — Moore's " Lyrics of Loyalty " and " Rebel Rhymes." 

Simms's " War Poetry of the South." 

Whittier's " In War Time." 

Lowell's " Biglow Papers " (second series) and " Harvard Commem' 
oration Ode." 

Mrs. Howe's " Battle Hymn of the Republic." 

SPANISH WAR. 

History. — Harpers' " Pictorial History of the War with Spain." 
Lodge's " The War with Spain." 
Morris' "The War with Spain." 
Roosevelt's " The Rough Riders." 
Wheeler's " The Santiago Campaign, 1898." 
Wilson's " Downfall of Spain," ' 



LIST OF PRESIDENTS AND VICE-PRESIDENTS. 



355 



OO'vj C^VJ^4kOJMwO^O00•>-t 0\V/t 






o, 5' 
? 3 



3 O^SJ fjj 



"J 
>• (T> 



P^ ^ O-PJ 



^ 3 



n> . . 



^ o :h: 



z zoo 

CD ft cr =^ 
^ g^ ^ ^ o 5- 

o !" o o 



•--303t/i&J O ui 3-p 



S< 



Ho>t;;^H' 

n> 2 ST ** O ' 

f» > • w^ r 



2 p 3 3 g-" 



(E 3 3 C • 



f5 2. i_i 5' 

5 s ^ s 

2 s^h:3 

-^ 3 Ck; crq 



S? 



o £L 



g.--fj 2-g-p j=:2 <5 p 3-g. 
sr t> ^r* o n ^ ^LJsi ST 

• v_^3=5^^2 2- ?i- 35 1/1 
. g-C c £ 3>< 3 3 . ^ . 



H OH H 

^ 3 S ^ 



oq c^ 



3 3 3. 



Spec 



>^ 2 






OO 

3 3 

CD n 



P 



C 3 3 3 



" t/> ^ ^ 



^ ^ O'-^ OO . ^ . 

•<v;3v:33 ^ 3^ 

-. 2a>;;;!f'n) o ">© 

(7 p 2 S n B n 

" ll3 3 33 



3 !^ ^ 3 : 

2,3 3 g^; 



P w 

37 

o i 

3_ OO 
?2? 



= 3 3 00 

O g ' 



w •• Ul O) 



OO M 



3 ti 



cc 






jOj OO 
- to 



JO 00 



H OH 

^ 2 ^ 

TO ^ ^ 

S 3 3 



OO ^, ^ 

00 o ^ 
o Tvo 

NO NJ 



OO 



^ 



00 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



III. 



LIST OF STATES AND TERRITORIES. 







fe 5 






fc 2 






2 






o2 


NO. 


STATES. 


n 


NO. 


STATES. 


< i 














G C 






Q Q 






< 






< 


1 


New Hampshire . . 


1 


23 


Maine 


1820 


2 


Massachusetts . 






"rl 


24 


Missouri 










1821 


3 


Rhode Island 








an 


25 


Arkansas 










1836 


4 


Connecticut . 








"rt 


26 


Michigan . 










1837 


5 


New York. . 








.S 


27 


Florida . , 










1845 


6 


New Jersey . 








]5d 


28 


Texas . . 










18] 


7 


Pennsylvania 











29 


Iowa . . . 










1846 


8 


Delaware 










30 


Wisconsin . 










1848 


9 


Maryland . , 








OJ 


31 


California . 










1850 


lo 


Virginia . . 








Is 


32 


Minnesota . 










1858 


11 


North Carolina 








"" 


33 


Oregon . . 










1859 


12 


South Carolina 








J= 


34 


Kansas . . 










i86r 


13 


Georgia . . 








H 


35 


West Virginia 










1863 


14 


Vermont . 










1791 


36 


Nevada . . 










1864 


15 


Kentucky . 










1792 


37 


Nebraska . 










1867 


16 


Tennessee . 










1796 


38 


Colorado 










1876 


17 


Ohio. . . 










1802 


39 


North Dakota. 










1889 


18 


Louisiana . 










1812 


40 


South Dakota 










1889 


19 


Indiana . 










1816 


41 


Montana . , . 










1889 


20 


Mississippi 










1817 


42 


Washington 










1889 


21 


Illinois . . 










1818 


43 


Idaho. . . 










1890 


22 


Alabama . 










1819I 44 


Wyoming . 








1S90 






1 45 1 Utah 








1895 






4 






NO. 


TERRITORIES. 


w z 




NO. 


TERRITORIES. 


I 


New Mexico .... 


1850 


4 


Dist. Columbia '1 No territo- 


2 


Arizona 


1S63 


5 


Indian Territory > rial organi- 


3 


Oklahoma . » . . 


1890 


6 


Alaska . . . . ) zation. 



354* 



AREA OF THE UNITED STATES. 



IV. 



AREA OF THE UNITED STATES. 

SQ. MILES. 

Original limits of the Thirteen States 820,680 

Louisiana, purchased of France in 1803, for ^15,000,000 . . 899,579 

Florida, purchased of Spain in 1819, for ^5,000,000 . , . 66,900 

Territory confirmed by the Oregon Treaty in 1842 and 1846 . 308,052 

Texas annexed in 1846 (Texas debt, #7,500,000) . , , 318,000 

New Mexico and California in 1S47 (cost of the war #15,000,000) 522,955 

" Gadsden Purchase" of Mexico in 1853, for #10,000,000 . . 45,535 

Alaska, purchased of Russia in 1867, for #7,200,000 . . . 577,390 

Hawaiian Islands, annexed 6,637 



Total . . 3,565,728 

[Other acquisitions of territory during the Spinisli war cannot yet be enu 
merated, as their precise amount is not yet determined.] 

[See Frontispiece.] 
355* 



356 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES, 



V. 

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, ADOPTED 
BY CONGRESS JULY 4, 1776. 

A DECLARATION BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED 
STATES OF AMERICA, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con- 
nected them with another, and to assume among the powers of 
the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of 
nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to 
the opinions of mankind requires that thev should declare the 
causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are cre- 
ated equal ; that thej are endowed by their Creator with cer- 
tain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and 
the pursuit of happiness ; that, to secure these rights, govern- 
ments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers 
from the consent of the governed ; that, whenever any form 
of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the 
right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new 
government, laying its foundation on such principles, and 
organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem 
most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, 
indeed, will dictate that governments long established should 
not be changed for light and transient causes ; and, accord- 
ingly, all experience hath shown that mankind are more dis- 
posed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right them- 
selves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. 
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing 
invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them 
under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to 
throw off such a government, and to provide new guards for 
their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 357 

these Colonies ; and such is now the necessity which constrains 
them to alter their former systems of government. The history 
of the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated 
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the estab- 
lishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove 
this, let facts be submitted to a candid world : — 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome, and 
necessary for the public good. 

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate 
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operations, 
till his assent should be obtained ; and, when so suspended, he 
has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of 
large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish 
the right of representation in the legislature ; a right inesti- 
mable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compli- 
ance with his measures. 

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly for op- 
posing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of 
the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, in- 
capable of annihilation, ha\5e returned to the people at large, 
for their exercise; the State remaining, in the mean time, ex- 
posed to all the dangers of invasions from without, and con- 
vulsions within. 

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these States ; 
for that purpose, obstructing the laws for the naturalization of 
foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration 
hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of 
lands. 

He has obstructed the administration of justice by refusing 
his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure 
of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. 



358 YOUNG folks' united states. 

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither 
swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out their 
substance. 

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, 
without the consent of our legislature. 

He has affected to render the military independent of, and 
superior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : — 

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; 

For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for 
any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of 
these States ; 

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world; 

For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by 
jury; 

For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended 
offences ; 

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neig- 
boring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, 
and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an ex- 
ample and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute 
rule into these Colonies : 

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable 
laws, and altering, fundamentally, the powers of our govern- 
ments; 

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring them- 
selves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases what- 
soever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of 
his protection, and waging war against us, 

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our 
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mer- 
cenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyr- 
anny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidj' 



DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 359 

scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally 
unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the 
high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the 
executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall them- 
selves by their hands. 

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has 
endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the 
merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an 
undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions, we have petitioned for 
redress in the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions have 
been answered only by repeated injury. A prince whose char- 
acter is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant 
is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attentions to our Britibh breth- 
ren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by 
their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over 
us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emi- 
gration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native 
justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them, by the 
ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, 
which would inevitably interrupt our connections and corre- 
spondence. They, too, have been deaf to the voice of justice 
and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the ne- 
cessity, which denounces our separation, and hold them, as we 
hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war; in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the Su- 
preme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, 
in the name and by the authority of the good people of these 
Colonies, solemnly publish and declare. That these United 
Colonies are, and of right ought to be. Free and IndcJ)e7tdcnt 
States; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the Brit- 
ish crown, and that all political connection between them and 
the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ; 
and that, as Free and Independent States, they have full 
power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, estab 



36o vouNG folks' united states. 

lish commerce, and do all other acts and things which lizde- 
-pendent States may of right do. And for the support of this 
Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine 
Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our 
fortunes, and our sacred honor. John Hancock. 

New Hampshire. — Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Mat- 
thew Thornton. 

Massachusetts Bay. — Samuel Adams, John Adams, Rob- 
ert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerrj. 

Rhode Island, etc. — ^Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery. 

Connecticut. — Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, 
William Williams, Oliver Wolcott. 

New York. — William Flojd, Philip Livingston, Francis 
Lewis, Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. — Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Fran- 
cis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark. 

Pennsylvania. — Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benja- 
min Franklin, John Morton, George Cljmer, James Smith, 
George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross. 

Delaware. — Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas 
M'Kean. 

Maryland. — Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 

Virginia. — George Wj'the, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas 
Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis 
Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton. 

North Carolina. — William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John 
Penn. 

South Carolina. — Edward Rutledge, Thomas Hayward, 
Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. 

Georgia. — Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Wal 
ton. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 361 

VI. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more 
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, 
provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, 
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our pos- 
terity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America. 

ARTICLE I. 

Section i. — All legislative powers herein granted shall be 
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist 
of a Senate and House of Representatives. 

Sect. 2. — The House of Representatives shall be composed 
of members chosen every second year by the people of the 
several States, and the electors in each State shall have the 
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous 
branch of the State legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who shall not have at- 
tained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a 
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, 
according to their respective numbers, which shall be deter- 
mined by adding to the whole number of free persons, includ- 
ing those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding 
Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual 
enumeration shall be made within three years after the first 
meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every 
subsequent term often years, in such manner as they shall by 
law direct. The number of representatives shall not exceed 
one for every thirty thousand ; but each State shall have at 



362 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

least one representative; and, until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose 
three, Massachusetts, eight, Rhode Island and Providence 
Plantations, one, Connecticut, five, New York, six. New Jer- 
sey, four, Pennsylvania, eight, Delaware, one, Maryland, six, 
Virginia, ten, North Carolina, five, South Carolina, five, and 
Georgia, three. 

When vacancies happen in the representation from any 
State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of 
election to fill such vacancies. 

The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker 
and other officers ; and shall have the sole power of impeach- 
ment. 

Sect. 3. — The Senate of the United States shall be com- 
posed of two senators from each State, chosen by the legis- 
lature thereof, for six years ; and each senator shall have one 
vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of 
the first election, they shall be divided, as equally as may be, 
into three classes. The seats of the senators of the first class 
shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the 
second class, at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the 
third class, at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third 
may be chosen every second year ; and if vacancies happen, by 
resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of 
any State, the executive thereof may make temporary appoint- 
ments until the next meeting of the legislature, which shall 
then fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the 
United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhab- 
itant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 

The Vice-President of the United States shall be president of 
the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally 
divided. 

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a pres- 
ident/ro tcmjiorc, in the absence of the Vice-President, or when 
he shall exercise the office as President of the United States. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 363 

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affir- 
mation. When the Pi-esident of the United States is tried, the 
chief justice shall preside; and no person shall be convicted 
without the concurrence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment, in cases of impeachment, shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and en- 
joy any office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States ; 
but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and sub- 
ject to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment, according 
to law. 

Sect. 4. — The times, places, and manner of holding elec- 
tions for senators and representatives shall be prescribed in 
each State by the legislature thereof; but the Congress may, 
at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as 
to the places of choosing senators. 

The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year; 
and such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, 
unless they shall by law appoint a difterent day. 

Sect. 5. — Each house shall be the judge of the elections, re- 
turns, and qualifications of its own members ; and a majority 
of each shall constitute a quorum to do business ; but a smaller 
number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized 
to compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner 
and under such penalties as each house may provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, pun- 
ish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concur- 
rence of two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in 
their judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays of the 
members of either house, on any question, shall, at the desire 
of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, with- 
out the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three 
days, nor to any other place than that in which the two houses 
shall be sitting. 

Sect. 6. — The senators and representatives shall receive a 



364 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and 
paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall, in 
all cases except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be 
privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of 
their respective houses, and in going to and returning from the 
same ; and, for any speech or debate in either house, they shall 
not be questioned in any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the au- 
thority of the United States which shall have been created, or 
the emoluments whereof shall have been increased, during 
'such time ; and no person holding any office under the United 
States shall be a member of either house during his continu- 
ance in office. 

Sect. 7. — All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the 
House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or 
concur with amendments, as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Repre- 
sentatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be 
presented to the President of the United States; if he approve 
he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objec- 
tions, to that house in which it shall have originated, who 
shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and pro- 
ceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirds 
of that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, to- 
gether with the objections, to the other house, by which it 
shall likevrise be reconsidered, and, if approved by two-thirds 
of that house, it shall become a law. But, in all such cases, 
the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons votmg for and against the bill 
shall be entered on the journal of each house respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten 
days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to 
him, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed 
it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its re- 
turn, in which case it shall not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote, to which the concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 365 

(except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to 
the President of the United States ; and, before the same shall 
take effect, shall be approved by him, or, being disapproved 
by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and 
House of Representatives, according to the rules and limita- 
tions prescribed in the case of a bill. 

Sect. 8. — The Congress shall have powder: — 

To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay 
the debts, and provide for the common defence and general 
welfare, of the United States ; but all duties, imposts, and ex- 
cises shall be uniform throughout the United States : 

To borrow money on the credit of the United States : 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes : 

To establish an uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform 
laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United 
States : 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures: 

To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securi- 
ties and current coin of the United States : 

To establish post-offices and post-roads : 

To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by secur- 
ing for limited times, to authors and inventors, the exclusive 
right to their respective writings and discoveries : 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court : 

To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas, and offences against the law of nations : 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and water: 

To raise and support armies ; but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years : 

To provide and maintain a navy : 

To make rules for the government and regulation of the 
land and naval forces : 

To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of 
the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions : 

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the mili- 



366 YOUNG folks' united states. 

tia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in 
the service of the United States, reserving to the States respect- 
ively, the appointment of the officers, and theauthority of train- 
ing the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Con- 
gress : 

To exercise exclusive legislation, in all cases w^hatsoever, over 
such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by ces- 
sion of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, be- 
come the seat of government of the United States, and to 
exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent 
of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for 
the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other 
needful buildings : — And, 

To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other 
powers vested by this Constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 

Sect, q, — The migration or importation of such persons, as 
any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight ; but a tax, or duty, may be imposed on 
such importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each person. 

The privilege of the writ oi habeas corpus shall not be sus- 
pended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the 
public safety may require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in 
proportion to the census, or enumeration, hereinbefore directed 
to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State. No preference shall be given by any regulation of 
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of 
another; nor shall vessels bound to or from one State be 
obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties, in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in conse- 
quence of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement 
and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money 
shall be published from time to time. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 36/ 

No title of nobilitj shall be granted by the United States; 
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them 
shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any 
present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever, from 
any king, prince, or foreign state. 

Sect. 10. — No State shall enter into any t;eaty, alliance, or 
confederation ; grant letters of marque and reprisal ; coin 
money; emit bills of credit ; make anything but gold and sil- 
ver coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any bill of attain- 
der, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of 
contracts; or grant any title of nobility. 

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be 
absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws ; and the 
net produce of all duties and imposts laid by any State on im- 
ports or exports shall be for the use of the treasury of the 
United States ; and all such laws shall be subject to the revision 
and control of the Congress. No State shall, without the con- 
sent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or ships 
of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact 
with another State or with a foreign power, or engage in war, 
unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay. 

ARTICLE II. 

Section i . — The executive power shall be vested in a Presi- 
dent of the United States of America. He shall hold his office 
during the term of four years, and together with the Vice- 
President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows : — 

Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors equal to the whole 
number of senators and representatives to which the State may 
be entitled in the Congress ; but no senator or representative, 
or person holding an office of trust or profit under the United 
States, shall be appointed an elector. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by 
ballot for two persons, of whom one, at least, shall not be an 
inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall 
make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of 



368 YOUNG FOLKS* UNITED STATES. 

votes for each ; which list thej shall sign and certify, and trans- 
mit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, 
directed to the president of the Senate. The president of the 
Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, open all the certificates ; and the votes shall then be 
counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall 
be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed; and if there be more than one 
who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then 
the House of Representatives shall immediately choose, by bal- 
lot, one of them for President ; and if no person have a majority, 
then, from the five highest on the list, the said house shall, in 
like manner, choose the President. But, in choosing the Presi- 
dent, the votes shall be taken by States; the representation 
from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose 
shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the 
States; and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to 
a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the 
person having the greatest number of votes of the electors 
shall be the Vice-President. But, if there should remain two 
or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from 
them, by ballot, the Vice-President. 

The Congress may determine the time of choosing the elec- 
tors, and the day on which they shall give their votes ; which 
day shall be the same thi'oughout the United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, , 
shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any 
person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and 
duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice- 
President ; and the Congress may, by law, provide for the case 
of removal, death, resignation, or inability, both of the Presi- 
dent and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act 
as President; and such officer shall act accordingly, until the 
disability be removed, or a President shall be elected. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 369 

The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services 
a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor dimin- 
ished during the period for which he shall have been elected', 
and he shall not receive within that period any other emolu- 
ment from the United States or any of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take 
the following oath or affirmation : — 

" I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully exe- 
cute the office of President of the United States, and will, to 
the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Con- 
stitution of the United States." 

Sect. 2. — The President shall becommander-in-chief of the 
army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the 
several States, when called into the actual service of the United 
States ; he may require the opinion, tn writing, of the principal 
officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject 
relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have 
power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators 
present concur; and he shall nominate, and, by and with the 
advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, 
other public ministers, and consuls, judges of the Supreme 
Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appoint- 
ments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall "be 
established by law : but the Congress may, by law, vest the ap- 
pointment of such inferior officers as they think proper, in the 
President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of de- 
partments. 

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting com- 
missions, which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Sect. 3. — He shall, from time to time, give to the Congress 
information of the state of the Union, and recommend to their 
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both 
houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between 



3/0 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn 
them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive 
ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care 
that the laws be faithfully executed ; and shall commission all 
the officers of the United States. 

Sect. 4. — The President, Vice-President, and all civil offi- 
cers of the United States, shall be removed from office on im- 
peachment for and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high 
crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. 

Section i. — The judicial power of the United States shall 
be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as 
the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The 
judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their 
offices during good behavior; and shall, at stated times, re- 
ceive for their services a compensation, which shall not be 
diminished during their continuance in office. 

Sect. 2. — The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law 
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the Uni- 
ted States, and treaties made, or which shall be made under their 
authority ; to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public min- 
isters, and consuls ; to all cases of admiralty and maritime juris- 
diction ; to controversies to which the United States shall be a 
party ; to controversies between two or more States, between a 
State and citizens of another State, between citizens of different 
States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under 
grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens 
thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, theSuprem.e 
Court shall have oi'iginal jurisdiction. In all the other cases 
before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate 
jurisdiction both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and 
under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall 
be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the 
said crimes shall have been committed ■, but, when not com' 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 37I 

mitted within any State, the trial shall be at such place or 
places as the Congress may by law have directed. 

Sect. 3. — Treason against the United States shall consist 
only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their ene- 
mies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be con- 
victed of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to 
the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of 
blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person at- 
tainted. 

ARTICLE IV. 

Section i. — Full faith and credit shall be given in each 
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of 
every other State. And the Congress may by general laws 
prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and pro- 
ceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Sect. 2. — The citizens of each Stat2 shall be entitled to all 
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another 
State, shall, on demand of the executive authority of the State 
from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State 
having jurisdiction of the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one State under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of 
any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service 
or labor, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to 
whom such service or labor may be due. 

Sect. 3. — New States maybe admitted by the Congress into 
this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within 
the jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed 
by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, with- 
out the consent of the legislature of the States concerned, as 
well as of the Congress. 

The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other 
property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 



3/2 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims 
of the United States, or of any particular State. 

Sect. 4. — The United States shall guarantee to every State 
in this Union a republican form of government, and shall pro- 
tect each of them against invasion; and on application of the 
legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be 
convened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem 
it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, 
on the application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, 
which, in either case, shall be valia, to all intents and purposes, 
as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of 
three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three- 
fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may 
be proposed by the Congress; Provided, that no amendment, 
which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hun- 
dred and eight, shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no 
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suf- 
frage in the Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. 

All debts contracted, and engagements entered into, before 
the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
United States under this Constitution, as under the Confede- 
ration. 

This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, 01 
which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, 
shall be the supreme law of the land ; and the judges in every 
State shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or 
laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and 
judicial officers, both of the United States and of the several 
States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this 



I 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 3/3 

Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a 
qualification to anj office or public trust undsr the United 
States. 

ARTICLE VII. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be 
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between 
the States so ratifying the same. 

Dojie in Conventioji by the unanimous consent of the States 

present, the seventeenth day of September, iti the year of our 

Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seveti, and oj 

the Independence of the United S tates of America the twelfth. 

In -witness zvhereof, ive have hereunto subscribed our naines. 

George Washington, President, 

aftd deputy frotn Virginia. 

New Hampshire. — John Langdon, Nicholas Oilman. 

Massachusetts. — Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. 

Connecticut. — William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. 

New York. — Alexander Hamilton. 

New Jersey. — William Livingston, David Brearlj, William 
Patterson, Jonathan Dayton. 

Pennsylvania. — Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, 
Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared 
Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. 

Delaware. — George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John 
Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. 

Maryland. — James McHenry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jeni- 
fer, Daniel Carroll. 

Virginia. — John Blair, James Madison, Jr. 

North Carolina. — William Blount, Richard Dobbs 
Spaight, Hugh Williamson. 

South Carolina. —John Rutledge, Charles Cotesworth 
Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. 

Georgia. — William Few, Abraham Baldwin. 

Attest : William Jackson, Secretary. 



374 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 

ARTICLE I. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment 
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridg- 
ing the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the 
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government 
for a redress of grievances. 

ARTICLE II. 

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a 
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall 
not be infringed. 

ARTICLE III. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in 
a manner to be prescribed by law. 

ARTICLE IV. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
shall not be violated ; and no warrants shall issue but upon 
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particu- 
larly describing the place to be searched, and the person or 
things to be seized. 

ARTICLE V. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise 
infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a 
grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, 
or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or pub- 
lic danger; nor shall any person be subject, for the same 
offence, to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb ; nor shall 
be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against 
himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without 
due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for 
public use without just compensation. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 3/5 

ARTICLE VI. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjov the right 
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State 
and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, 
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law; 
and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; 
to be confronted with the witnesses against him ; to have com- 
pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to 
have the assistance of counsel for his defence. 

ARTICLE VII. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be 
preserved; and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re- 
examined in any court of the United States than according to 
the rules of the common law. 

ARTICLE VIII. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

ARTICLE IX. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall 
not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
people. 

ARTICLE X. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Con- 
stitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to 
the States respectively, or to the people. 

ARTICLE XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be con- 
strued to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or 
prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of 
another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 

ARTICLE XII. 

The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 



'^']6 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at 
least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with them- 
selves ; thej shall name in their ballots the person voted for 
as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as 
Vice-President; and thej shall make distinct lists of all per- 
sons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as 
Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which 
lists thej shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat 
of the government of the United States, directed to the presi- 
dent of the Senate; the president of the Senate shall, in the 
presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted : the per- 
son having the greatest number of votes for President shall 
be the President, if such- number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ; and if no person have such 
majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers, 
not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, 
the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by 
ballot, the President. But, in choosing the president, the 
votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each 
State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist 
of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a 
majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice. And 
if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President, 
whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 
the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-Presi- 
dent shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other 
constitutional disability of the President. 

The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a 
majority of the whole number of electors appointed; and if 
no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers 
on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice-President : a quo- 
rum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole 
number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall 
be necessary to a choice. 

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of 
President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the 
United States. 



AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION. 3/7 

ARTICLE XIII. 

Section i. — Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, ex- 
cept as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted, shall exist w^ithin the United States, or 
any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sect. 2. — Congress shall have power to enforce this Arti- 
cle by appropriate legislation. 

article XIV. 

Section i. — All persons born or naturalized in the United 
States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of 
the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No 
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the 
privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor 
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its 
jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. 

Sect. 2. — Representatives shall be apportioned among th,^ 
several States, according to their respective numbers, counting 
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians 
not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for 
choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the 
United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature 
thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, 
being twenty-one years of age and citizens of the United 
States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in 
rebellion or other crime, the basis of representation therein 
shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 
twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Sect. 3. — No person shall be a senator, or representative 
in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, 01 
hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or 
under any State, who, having previously taken an oath as a 
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or 
as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or 
iudicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the 



3/8 YOUNG folks' united states. 

United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion 
against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies 
thereof: but Congress may, by a vote of tw^o-thirds of each 
house, remove such disability. 

Sect. 4. — The validity of the public debt of the Unitea 
States authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment 
of pensions, and bounties for services in suppressing insurrec- 
tion or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the 
United States, nor any State, shall assume or pay any debt or 
obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against 
the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipatioi? 
of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims shall 
be held illegal and void. 

Sect. 5. — The Congress shall have power to enforce by 
appropriate legislation the provisions of this Article. 

ARTICLE XV. 

Section i. — The right of citizens of the United States to 
vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, or 
by any State, on account of race, color, or previous condition 
of servitude. 

Sect. 2. — The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
Article by appropriate legislation. 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 



[This table has been prepared solely for purposes of reference ; and it js 
particularly advised that, if used in schools, it should not be committed to 
memory.] 

A. D. PAGE 

looo. Coming of the Northmen 25 

1492. Hispaniola discovered by Columbus 

1497. Continent of America discovered by the Cabots 

1497-98. South America visited by Americus Vespucius 

1512. Florida discovered by Ponce de Leon . 

1513. Balboa sees the Pacific ..... 



35 
40 

37 
43 
43 

1524. The coast ofNorth America explored by Verrazzano 44 

124 
50 
51 
51 
66 

50 

52 



1562. Huguenot settlement at Port Royal 
1565. St. Augustine settled by Spaniards 
1585. Raleigh's first colony at Roanoke . 

1602. Gosnold's explorations ..... 

1603. New Hampshire visited by Martin Pring 

1605. French settlement of Nova Scotia . 

1606. Formation of London and Plymouth Companies 

1607. Jamestown settled by London Company. Popham 

landed in Maine 53 

£Go8. Flight of Scrooby Independents to Holland . . 55 

1609. Hudson River discovered by Henry Hudson . 88 

Champlain explored Vermont .... 67 

1614. Adrian Block explored the coast of Connecticut 

and named Block Island .... 71 
New York settled by the Dutch .... 91 
Capt. John Smith explored the coast of New Eng- 
land as far as Maine 115 



380 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

A. D. PAGE 

1619. Negro slavery introduced in Virginia . . • 117 

1620. Landing of Pilgrims at Plymouth .... 58 
Formation of second Plymouth company . . 117 

1621. Formation of Dutch West-India Company . . 92 
1623. Portsmouth and Dover settled. The Dutch began 

to colonize New York 

1628. Settlement by Endicott at Salem . 

1629. Formation of Massachusetts Company. Franci 

Higginson's emigration. Winthrop's emigration 
Grant of Maryland to the first Lord Baltimore 

1633. Connecticut settled at Windsor 

1634. Maryland settled at St. Mary's 

1635. Colony at Saybrook, Ct., Hartford, and Wethers 

field 

1636. Settlement of Rhode Island by Roger Williams 
Harvard College founded .... 

1637. Pequot War- in Connecticut .... 

1638. New Haven settled 

Delaware settled by Swedes .... 

1639. Connecticut settlements united as the Connecticut 

Colony 

First printing-press in New England 
1643. First New England Confederation 
1645. Clayborne's Rebellion in Maryland 

1663. Carolina granted to Shaftesbury and others . 

1664. New Netherlands taken by the English, and named 

New York 

Settlement of Elizabethtown in New Jersey . 

1665. Connecticut and New Haven Colonies united 

1675. King Philip's War 

1676. Bacon's Rebellion in Virginia 
1682. Pennsylvania settled by William Penn . 

La Salle explored the Mississippi . 
1687. Connecticut charter hid in the Charter Oak . 
1689. Andros seized and sent to England 

King William's War ..... 
1692. Salem witchcraft f^elusion .... 



I 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, 38 1 

A. D. PAGE 

1692. William and Mary College founded in Virginia , 118 

3700. Yale College founded in Connecticut ... 86 

1702. Qiieen Anne's War 143 

1703. Delaware and Pennsylvania permanently separated 108 
1729. North and South Carolina permanently separated 127 

1732. Washington born in Virginia, Feb. 22 . . . 149 

1733. Georgia settled by Oglethorpe .... 12S 

1744. King George's War ...... 143 

1745. Louisburg taken from the French .... 148 

1753. Washington sent as a commissioner to the Ohio 

Valley 149 

1754. Washington defeated the French at Great Mead- 

ows 150 

1755. Expulsion of Acadians . . , . . • 151 
Braddock's defeat 153 

1759. Wolfe captured Quebec 155 

1763. Peace of Paris. Cession of Canada. Pontiac's 

War 156 

1765. Parliament passed the Stamp Act . . . .161 
Patrick Henry's resolutions in the Virginia As- 
sembly 163 

Congress of nine colonies met in New York. Dec- 
laration of Rights, and petition to the King. 

Stamp-officer hung in effigy .... 164 

Hutchinson House destroyed ..... 165 

1766. Stamp Act repealed, May i 165 

1767. Duty imposed on tea and other imports, June 29. 

British troops arrived in Boston, Sept. 27 . . 166 

1770. Boston Massacre, March 5 168 

1772. Destruction of the "Gaspee," June 10 . . . 169 

1773. All duties repealed except on tea. Boston Tea 

Party, Dec. 16 171 

S774. Boston Port Bill put in force, June i . . -173 
First Continental Congress met at Philadelphia, 

Sept. 5 176 

r.;75. Battle of Lexington, April 19 . . . 178-183 

Allen and Arnold captured Ticonderoga, May 10. 183 



382 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

A. D. PAGE 

1775. Washington chosen commander-in-chief, June 15 189 
Battle of Bunker Hill, June 17 . . . .183-187 
Washington took command of the American army 
at Cambridge, Mass., July 3. Montreal surren- 
dered to Montgomery, Nov. 13. Montgomery 
defeated and slain at Qiiebec, Dec. 31. . . 189 
f776. Boston evacuated by the British, March 17 . . 192 
Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, 

July 4 198 

British repulsed at Fort Moultrie, S. C, June 28. 
Battle of Long Island, Aug. 27. [The American 
forces under Gen. Putnam were here hemmed in, 
and cut to pieces. Greenwood Cemetery is part 
of the battle-field.] Washington defeated at 
White Plains, Oct. 28. The British captured 
Fort Washington, Nov. 16. Washington victo- 
rious at Trenton, Dec. 26 203 

1777. Washington victorious at Princeton, Jan. 3 Battle 
of Brandy wine, Sept. 11. [An unavailable at- 
tempt of the American troops to save Philadel- 
phia. The army was preserved from overwhelm- 
ing defeat by Gen. Greene.] Howe occupied 
Philadelphia, Sept. 26. Army went into winter 
quarters at Valley Forge, Dec. II . . . 204 

Tryon's expedition against Connecticut, April 26. 
Ticonderoga captured by Burgoyne, July 5. 
Americans defeated at Hubbardton, July 7. Pres- 
cott captured by Barton, July 10. Battle of 
Bennington, Aug. 16 205 

Americans repulsed at Germantown, Oct. 4. Bat- 
tle of Saratoga, Oct. 7. Burgoyne surrendered 

to Gates, Oct. 17 206 

1778 France acknowledged the independence of the 

United States, Feb. 6 206 

British evacuated Philadelphia, June 18. Battle of 
Monmouth, June 28. [Washington, intercepting 
Clinton as he was withdrawing his army from 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 383 

A. D. PAGE 

Philadelphia, came up with him at Monmouth. 
Gen. Lee's forces, prematurelj retreating, were 
met and rallied bj Washington, who sharply 
rebuked their commander. The British, how- 
ever, got away in the night, and escaped defeat.] 
Battle and massacre at Wyoming, July 3. 
American victory at Quaker Hill, R. I. Massa- 
cre at Cherry Valley, Nov. 11. Campbell cap- 
tured Savannah, Dec. 29 207 

1779. "Mad Anthony" Wayne took Stony Point, July 

15. Victory of Paul Jones, Sept. 23 . . . 207 

1780. Major Andre executed as a spy, Oct. 2 . . . 209 

1781. Articles of Confederation ratified by the States. 

Arnold's expedition against New London, Sept. 
6. Battle of Eutaw Springs, Sept 8. Yorktown 
besieged by Americans and French, Sept. 30 . 211 
Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, Oct. 19 . 212 

1782. A preliminary treaty of peace was signed at Paris* 

between Great Britain and the United States, 
Nov. 30 212 

1783. Savannah evacuated by the British, July 11. New 

York evacuated by the British, Nov. 25. Charles- 
ton evacuated by the British, Dec. 14 . « 212 

Washington resigned his commission to Congress, 
Dec. 23. A definite treaty of peace signed at 
Paris between Great Britain and the United 
States, Nov. 30 213 

The American army disbanded, Nov. 3 . . . 214 

1786. Shays' Rebellion in Massachusetts . . . 214 

1787. Slavery excluded from Northwest Territory by act 

of Congress 231 

Philadelphia Convention adopted the Constitution 
of the United States 215 

1788. The Constitution of the United States went into 

effect 2'^ 

1789. North Carolina accepted the Constitutior . -215 



384 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

A. D. FAGB 

1789. George Washington inaugurated President of the 

United States 217 

1790. Rhode Island accepted the Constitution . . 215 
Franklin died. Indian War 226 

1791. Vermont admitted to the Union . • . . 229 
United States Bank established at Philadelphia. 

John Adams elected President . . . .231 

1792. Eli Whitney invented the cotton-gin . . . 226 
Kentucky admitted to the Union .... 229 

1795. Jay's treaty with Great Britain ratified . . . 220 

1796. Tennessee admitted to the Union .... 230 

1797. John Adams became President .... 231 
1799. Washington died at Mount Vernon . . . 233 
i8oo. The city of Washington made the seat of govern- 
ment 232 

A treaty of peace made with France . . . 233 

1801. Thomas Jefferson elected President . . . 235 
Tripoli declared war against the United States . 237 

1802. Ohio admitted to the Union 243 

1803. Louisiana bought of Napoleon .... 245 
Expedition of Lewis and Clark .... 246 

1804. Decatur destroyed the frigate " Philadelphia" . 23S 
Burr killed Hamilton in a duel .... 242 

1807. Robert Fulton launched his steamboat • . . 241 
The "Leopard" attacked the American frigate 

"Chesapeake" 236 

Congress laid an embargo on American ships . 236 
1809. Congress forbade commerce with England and 

France. Madison became President . . . 248 

1811. Victory of Gen. Harrison at Tippecanoe . . 249 

1812. United States at war with Great Britain. Gen. 

Hull invaded Canada. Gen. Hull surrendered 
Detroit. American frigate " Constitution " cap- 
tured the " Guerriere," Aug. 19. Americans 
defeated at Queenstown. The American sloop 
"Wasp" captured "The Frolic." American 
frigate "United States" captured "The Mace- 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 385 

£>. D. PAGE 

donian." The American frigate "United States" 
took " The Java." Convention at Hartford 

called 24S-9 

Louisiana admitted to the Union .... 253 

1813. The British frigate '' Shannon " took "The Chesa- 

peake," June I ...... . 249 

Perrj gained his victory on Lake Erie, Sept. 10 . 250 

Creek war ........ 249 

1814. The British entered Washington, and fired the 

public buildings. The treaty of peace signed at 

Ghent 251 

1815. Jackson defeated the British at New Orleans, Jan. 8 251 

1816. The Bank of the United States rechartered for 

twenty years. Indiana admitted to the Union . 253 

1817. Monroe became President, March 4. First Semi- 

nole War 253 

Mississippi admitted to the Union .... 257 

1818. Jackson went against the Seminoles . . . 253 
Illinois admitted to the Union .... 254 

1819. Treaty made with Spain that gave Florida to the 

United States 254 

Alabama admitted to the Union .... 255 

1820. Maine admitted to the Union 255 

Missouri compromise ...... 256 

1821. Missouri admitted to the Union .... 255 

1824. Lafayette visited the United States . . . 256 

1825. John Qiiincy Adams became President . . . 259 
Erie Canal opened 260 

1826. Deaths of Jefferson and Adams, July 4 . . . 261 

1827. First railroad in the United States. Attempt to 

purchase Texas from Mexico .... 260 

1&29. Andrew Jackson became President . . . 262 

1830. First appearance of Mormons .... 270 

1831. Antislavery agitation. Benjamin Lundy. William 

Lloyd Garrison. Insurrection of Nat Turner . 266 

1832. South Carolina declares the doctrine of Nullifica- 

tion 263 



386 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



A. D. 
1832. 



IS35. 
1836. 

1837. 
I84I. 
1842. 

1845. 



1846. 

1847. 
1848. 



1849. 
1850. 



Black Hawk War 

Jackson vetoed the bill for the National Bank. 

Antislaverj Society founded 
Second Seminole War .... 
Arkansas admitted to the Union . 
Texas declares her independence of Mexico 
Michigan admitted to the Union . 
Martin Van Buren became President 
Lovejoy killed. Mobs in Boston . 
William Henry Harrison became President, March 
4. Death of President Harrison, April 4. John 
Tyler inaugurated President, April 6 . 

Seminole War ended 

Ashburton treaty completed. Dorrite War in 
Rhode Island. Anti-rent troubles. Mormons 
left Nauvoo ........ 

Florida admitted into the Union, March 3 

Tyler signed the bill for the annexation of Texas, 

March i 

James K. Polk became President, March 4. First 

transmission of news by Morse's telegraph 
Texas admitted to the Union, Dec. 20 . 
Treaty settling boundary of Oregon 
Outbreak of Mexican War 
Iowa admitted into the Union 
Taylor defeated the Mexicans at Buena Vista 
Gen. Scott captured the city of Mexico . 
Expeditions of Fremont and Kearney . 
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo 
Gold fever ...... 

Wisconsin admitted to the Union, Wilmot pn 

defeated. Origin of Free-soil party . 

Departure of Morm.ons to Utah 

Zachary Taylor inaugurated President, March 5 • 

President Taylor died, July 9. Millard Fillmore 

inaugurated, July 10. Henry Clay's Omnibus 

Bill passed. California admitted to the Union . 



264 

265 
264 
266 
272 
266 
267 
268 



269 
264 



270 
271 

272 

273 
274 

273 
275 
278 

275 
276 

277 
277 
278 

279 
2S2 
280 



280 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 38/ 

A. D. PAGF 

1850. Fugitive Slave Bill passed 2S1 

1853. Franklin Pierce inaugurated ..... 2S2 
Arizona and New Mexico purchased . . . 284 

1854. Missouri Compromise repealed. Kansas-Nebraska 

Bill passed ........ 2S2 

Treaty made with Japan 2S4 

1855. Struggle in Kansas ....... 283 

1857. Buchanan became President 285 

1858. Dred Scott Decision 286 

Minnesota admitted to the Union .... 292 

1859. Oregon admitted to the Union .... 292 
John Brown's raid 286 

i860. Abraham Lincoln elected. South Carolina seceded, 

Dec. 20 289 

General Anderson occupied Fort Sumter, Dec. 26 290 

1861. Southern Confederacy formed .... 289 
Kansas admitted to the Union, Jan. 29 . . . 292 
Jefferson Davis President of the Confederacy, 

Feb. 18 290 

Fort Sumter attacked, April 12, 13 . . . 293 

Lincoln inaugurated, March 4. President Lincoln 
called for seventy-five thousand troops, April 
15. Massachusetts troops mobbed in Baltimore, 

April 19 2Q| 

Davis offered letters of marque and reprisal, April 
17. Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of Southern 
ports, April 19. Union army routed at Bull ilur 

July 21 296 

England, France, Spain, and Portugal acknowl- 
edged the Confederate States as belligerents. 
Confederate victory at Ball's Bluff, Oct. 21. 
Union victory a<- Port Royal, Nov. 7. Gen. 
Scott succeeded by Gen. McClellan . . . 297 
Seizure of Mason and Slidell, Nov. 8 . . . 29S 

1862. Battle of Fair Oaks, May 31, June i. Seven days' 

contest before Richmond, June 25, July i . . 298 
Battle of Cedar Mountain, Aug. 9. Battles between 



388 YOUNG folks' united states. 

A. D. PAGE 

Manassas and Washington. Lee invaded Mary- 
land, Sept. 5. Lee defeated at South Mountain, 
Sept. 14. Harper's Ferry surrendered to Con- 
federates, Sept. 15. Lee defeated at Antietam, 
Sept. 17 299 

1862, Confederates repulsed at Corinth, Oct. 4. Confed- 

erate victory at Fredericksburg, Dec. 13 . . 300 

Engagement between "Monitor" and "Merri- 
mac," March 9 ...... . 301 

Fort Henry captured by United States gunboats, 
Feb. 6. Union troops took Roanoke Island, Feb. 
8. Island No. 10 captured by Unionists, April 7 302 

Union victory at Shiloh, April 7. New Orleans 
captured by Unionists, April 25. Fort Pulaski 
captured by Unionists, April 25. Memphis sur- 
rendered to Union troops, June 6 . . . 303 

Lincoln's first emancipation proclamation, Sept. 22 305 

1863, Lee's second invasion of Maryland, June 21 . . 306 
Lincoln's second emancipation proclamation, Jan. i 306 
Union defeat at Chancellorsville, May 3. Union 

victory at Gettysburg, July 3 . . . . 306 
Capture of Vicksburg by Union troops, July 4 . 307 
Capture of Port Hudson by Union troops, July 8. 
Negro riot in New York, July 13-16. Morgan's 
raid in Indiana and Ohio, July. Confederate vic- 
tory at Chickamauga, Sept. 20 . . . . 308 
Union victory at Chattanooga, Nov. 25. Confed- 
erates repulsed before Knoxville, Nov. 29 . . 309 
Fort Wagner taken by Confederates, July 18 -310 
West Virginia admitted to the Union, June 20 . 325 
;864. Union defeat at Olustee, Feb. 20 . . . . 310 
Grant appointed lieutenant-general. May 3. Grant 
made commander of Union army, March 12. 
Red River expedition, March and April. Con- 
federates captured Fort Pillow, April 12. Army 
of Potomac began a f'^rward movement. May 3. 
The battle of the Wilderness, May 5, 6. The 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. 389 

A. D. PAGE 

: battles near Spottsjlvania, May 9. Unionists 

i routed near New Market, May 15. Confederate 

J defeat at Piedmont, June 5 311 

\ 1864. The " Kearsarge " met and sank the "Alabama," 

June 19. Early invaded Maryland, July 4. Con- 
federate victory on the Monocacy, July 9. Cham- 
bersburg sacked and partly burned, July 30. 
Confederate defeat at Winchester, Sept. 19. 
Confederate rout at Fisher's Hill, Sept. 22 . 312 

Union mine explosion before Petersburg, July 30. 

Union victory in Mobile Bay, Aug. 5 . . . 313 
Sherman began his march against Atlanta, May 7. 
Sherman's victories before Atlanta, July 20, 28. 
Sherman captured Atlanta, Sept. 2. Confederate 
repulse at Franklin, Nov. 30. Union victory at 
Nashville, Dec. 16. Savannah occupied by Sher- 
man's army, Dec. 21. . . . . . -315 

Union victory at Cedar Creek, Oct. 19. Nevada 
admitted into the Union, Oct. 31 . . . 325 

1865. Union victory at Averysborough, March 16. Con- 
federate rout at Bentonville, March 20 . . 316 

Unionists captured Fort Fisher, Jan. 15. Sherman 
captured Columbia, Feb. 17. Charleston occu- 
pied by Union troops, Feb. 18. Wilmington 
taken by Union troops, Feb. 22 , . . -316 
Union troops occupied Petersburg and Richmond, 

April 3 

Lee surrendered to Grant, April 9. Gen. J. E 
Johnston surrendered to Sherman, April 26 
Jefferson Davis captured, May 10 . . 
President Lincoln assassinated, April 14 
Andrew Johnson became President, April 15 
Freedmen's Bureau Bill became a law, March 3 
Slavery declared constitutionally abolished, Dec, 
18. Conditional amnesty .... 

1866. Congress passed second Freedmen's Bureau Bill 
over veto, July 16 324 



317 



318 
322 
323 



S-H 



39^ 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



A. D, 
1867. 



x868. 



1869. 
1870. 
1871. 

1873- 
1876. 



1877. 
1879. 
1881. 



1885. 
1885. 
1889. 



1890. 

1893. 
1896. 



Congress passed reconstruction bill over veto, 

March 2. Congress passed Tenure of Office 

Bill over veto, March 2 . . 
Nebraska admitted to the Union, March i. Alaska 

purchased, June 20 ..... . 

House of Representatives impeached President 

Johnson, Feb. 24. Fourteenth constitutional 

amendment adopted, July 28 . . . 
President Johnson acquitted, Maj 26 
Ulj'^sses S. Grant became President, March 4 
The fifteenth amendment declared adopted . 
The Alabama treaty concluded. May 6. The great 

fire of Chicago occurred Oct. 7, 8, 9 . 
Grant inaugurated for a second term 
Centennial celebration. Colorado admitted. . 
Disputed presidential election. Electoral commis 

sion ........ 

Rutherford B. Hayes became President, March 5 
Resumption of specie payments, Jan. i . 
James A. Garfield became President, March 4 
President Garfield shot and mortally wounded 

July 2 

President Garfield died, Sept. 19 . 
Chester A. Arthur became President, Sept. 20 
Grover Cleveland became President, March 4 
The Civil Service Act becomes a law . . . 
Act passed authorizing admission of four new States 

on forming a satisfactory State Constitution, Feb. 22 
Benjamin Harrison became President, March 4 . 
Oklahoma lands opened to settlers by proclamation, 

April 22 Oklahoma a Territory, May 2. 
North and South Dakota admitted to the Union, 
Nov. 2; Montana, Nov. 8; Washington, Nov. ir. 
Idaho admitted to the Union, July 3 . 
Wyoming admitted to the Union, July 10 . 
Grover Cleveland became President, March 4 . 
Utah admitted to the Union, Jan 4 . 



PAGH 

325 



324 
325 
326 
326 

326 
326 
330 

331 

334 
338 
341 

341 
341 
342 
343 
343 

345 
344 

345 

345 
345 
345 
346 
347 



UNITED STATES. 

A- D. PAGE 

1897. William McKinley became President, March 4 . 347 

1901. McKinley inaugurated for a second term, March 4. 351* 
President McKinley shot and mortally wounded, 

Sept. 6, Died, Sept. 14 351* 

Theodore Roosevelt became President, Sept. 14. . 352* 

1902. Cuba recognized as independent, May 20. . . 352* 






INDEX. 



A. 

Acadia, 152. 

Acton, Mass., 180. 

Adams, John, President, 176, 196, 

197, 217, 221, 231, 239, 261. 
Adams, J. Q., President, 259, 260, 

261, 262, 268. 
Adams, Samuel, 172, 179, 182, 221. 
Alabama, 234, 255, 257, 289. 
" Alabama," The, 312. 
Alaska, 325. 

Albany, N. Y., 90, 95, 151, 241. 
" Albemarle," The, 314. 
Alleghany River, The, 150, 152. 
Alexandria, Va , 296. 
Algonquins, The, 18. 
Alien and Sedition Laws, 233. 
Allen, Ethan, 68, 183, 229. 
Allston, W., 328. 
Alton, 111., 268. 
Americus Vespucius, 37. 
Anderson, Major Robert, 290. 
Andre, Major John, 210. 
Andros, Sir Edmund, 83. 
Animals, Extinct, 2. 
Annapolis, Md., 173, 295. 
Antietam, Md., Battle of, 299. 
Antislavery Societies, 265, 268. 
Appomattox, Va., Lee's Surrender 

at, 318. 
Aquidneck, 70, 
Arizona, 284. 

Arlington Heights, Va., 296. 
" Ark," The, 121. 
Arkansas, 266, 291. 
Arnold, Gen. Benedict, 209, 210, 

211. 
Arnold, Gov. Benedict, 25, 26. 
Arthur, Chester A., 340-342. 



Astor, J. J., 247, 253. 

Astoria, 247. 

Atlanta, Ga., Capture of, 315. 

Atlantic Cable, The, 328. 

Atlantic Ocean, 13, 31, 32, t,t„ 35, 

52. 
Attucks, Crispus, 169. 



B. 

Bacon, Nathaniel, 139. 

Bainbridge, Captain, 237. 

Bailey, Colonel, 311. 

Balboa, 43. 

Ball's Bluff, Va., 297. 

Baltimore, Md., 273, 294, 295. 

Baltimore, George, Lord, 121. 

Baltimore, Cecil, Lord, 121, 122. 

Banks, Gen. N. P., 298, 310. 

Barre, Colonel, 162, 163. 

Baton Rouge, La., 293. 

Beauregard, General, 291, 302. 

Bennington, Vt., 205. 

Berkeley, Governor, 139. 

Berkeley, Lord, 99. 

Big Bethel, Va., 296. 

Blaine, James G., 343. 

" Blessing of the Bay," The, 84. 

Block, Adrian, 71, 91. 

Block Island, 79, 91. 

"Bonhomme Richard," The, 207,208. 

Boone, Daniel, 230. 

Booth, Wilkes, 322. 

Border Rufifians, 283, 286. 

Boston, Mass., 62, 83, 86, ^7, 164, 
166, 167, 169, 171, 172, i74> i75> 
178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 184, 189, 
191, 192, 200, 202, 227, 259. 

391 



392 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Boston Massacre, The, 169. 

" Boston Newsletter," The, 86. 

Boston Port Bill, 173, 174, 175. 

" Bounty-jumpers," 306. 

Braddock, General, 153, 154, 157. 

Bradford, Governor, 133. 

Brainard, David, 136. 

Brandywine, Battle of, 204. 

Breed's Hill, 183, 184. 

Brewster, Elder, 60. 

Brown, Capt. John, 283, 286, 288. 

Bryant, W. C, 32S. 

Buchanan, James, President, 285, 

286. 
Buell, Gen. D. C, 302. 
Buena Vista, Battle of, 275, 276. 
Bull Run, Battles of, 296, 299. 
Bunker Hill, Battle of, 178, 183, 

188, 189, 192, 194, 206. 
Burgoyne, General, 205, 206. 
Burke, Edmund, 174. 
Burns, Anthony, 281. 
Burnside, Gen. A. E., 300, 302. 
Burr, Aaron, 242, 243. 
Butler, Gen. B. F., 295, 303, 304. 
Buttrick, Major, 180. 



CAb.T, John, 40, 41, 51. 

Cabot, Sebastian, 38, 40, 41, 42, 51. 

Calhoun, J. C, 263, 272. 

California, 277, 278, 280, 281. 

Calvert, Leonard, 121. 

Cambridge, Mass., 86, 87, 136, 174, 

184, 189, 191, 200. 
Canada, 18,45, 5^, 5^ 5^, 66, 95, 

136, i39> 146, 147, 14S. 
Canals, 260. 
Canonicus, 69. 
Cape Ann, 67, 115. 
Cape Charles, 113. 
Cape Cod, 49, 61, 71, 89, 92. 
Cape Henry, 113. 
Carolinas, The, 124, 127. 
Carteret, Sir George, 99. 
Carver, John, 59. 
Casey, General, 298. 
Castle, William, 169, 191. 
Cedar Creek, Va., Battle of, 312. 
Cedar Mountain, Va., Battle of, 299. 
Census of United States, 231, 234, 



252, 257, 266, 269, 2S2, 292, 326, 

336, 345- 
Centennial Celebration, 330. 
Central America,. 7. 
Cerro Gordo, 276. 
Champlain, Lake, 205, 209. 
Chapultepec, 276. 
Charles River, 115, 179. 
Charleston, S. C, 126, 173, 202, 205, 

207, 208, 212, 290, 291, 310, 316. 
Charlestown, Mass., 62, 178, 179, 

184. 
Charlestown, Va., 288. 
Charters, 52, 82, 84, loi, no, 130, 

160. 
Chase, S. P., 327. 

Chattanooga, Tenn., Battle of, 309. 
Chesapeake Bay, 112, 121. 
" Chesapeake," The, 236, 249, 250. 
Chickamauga, Tenn., 308. 
Chickasaws, The, 263. 
Chihuahua, 277. 
Chilton, Mary, 58. 
Choctaws, The, 263. 
Christiana, Del., 107, loS. 
Church, Captain, 138. 
Churubusco, 276. 
Civil Service Act, 343. 
Civil War, The, 293. 
Clark, Capt. William, 245, 246. 
Clayborne, Capt. William, 121, 122. 
Clay, Henry, 280. 
" Clermont," The, 241. 242. 
Cleveland, Grover, 343, 344. 
Clinton, De Witt, 260. 
Clinton, General, 202. 
Coddington. William, 70. 
Coins, early, in New England, 85. 
Colorado, 2, 237- 

Colored Troops, 305, 311, 317, 319 
Columbus, Christopher, 31, 40, 
Columbia River, 246, 247, 253, 273, 
Columbia, District of, 280. 
" Columbia," The, 246. 
"Common Sense," 195. 
Compromise Measures, 280. 
Concord, Mass., 179, 180, 181, 19S. 
Confederacy, The, 297. 
Confederation, The, 214, 215. 
Congress, Continental, 164, 176, 189, 

194, 200. 
Connecticut, 66, 71, 72, y^, 83, 84, 

87, 96, 137, 148, I59» 165, 183, 

196, 268. 
Connecticut River, 92. 



INDEX. 



393 



I 



Constitution, Federal, The, 215, 216, 
. 254, 256, 333. 
'Constitution," The, 249. 
■Continental Army, 199. 
Cook, Captain, 155. 
Cooper, Peter, 331. 
Copley, J. S., 32S. 
Cotton Gin, The, 226. 
Cotton, Rev, Jolin, 136. 
Crown Point, 154. 
Cuba, T,y, 47. 
Cumberland, Md., 252. 
Cushing, Lieutenant, 314. 
Cushing, Mrs., 164. 
Cuttyhunk, Mass., Settlement at, 51. 



D. 

Dahlgren, Admiral, 315. 
Dare, Virginia, 52. 
Dark and Bloody Ground, The, 230. 
" Daughters of Liberty," 173. 
Davis, Capt. Isaac, 180. 
Davis, Jefferson, 290, 317, 318. 
Debt, National, 318, 326. 
Decatur, Lieutenant, 237, 238, 
Declaration of Rights, 164. 
Declaration of Independence, 194, 

197, 199, 202, 213, 216, 228, 232, 

235, 261. 
Deerfield, Mass., 146, 147. 
De Kalb, General, 204. 
Delaware, 93, 105, 106, 108, 159. 
De la Ware, Lord, 106, 117. 
Delaware River, 108, 203, 241. 
Democratic Party, 221, 235, 267, 273, 

282, 285, 331. 
De Soto, 230, 244. 
Detroit, Mich., 157, 158, 249. 
Dighton Rock, 26. 
Doniphan, Colonel, 277. 
Dorchester, Mass., 62. 
Dorchester Heights, 183, 192, 
Dorr War, The, 270. 
" Dove," The, 121. 
Dover, N. H., 66. 
Dred Scott Decision, 285. 
Druilletes, Father, 136. 
Dudingston, Lieutenant, 169. 
Dupont, Admiral, 310. 
Duston, Thomas, 144. 
Dutch Times in New York, %S. 



Early, Gen. Jubal, 312. 
East Cambridge, Mass., 179. 
Elberon, N. J., 341. 
Electoral Commission, 333. 
Eliot, Rev. John, 136. 
Elizabethtown, N. J., 99. 
El Molino del Rey, 276. 
Ellsworth, Colonel, 296. 
Emancipation Proclamations, 305, 

306. 
Embargo, The, 236. 
Emerson, R. W., 328. 
Endicott, John, 61, 74. 
English, William H., 340. 
Ericsson, Captain, 301. 
Erie Canal, The, 260. 
" Essex," The, 250. 
Everett, Edward, 265. 
Everglades, The, 263, 264. 



F. 

Fairbanks, Jonas, "j?,. 
Fair Oaks, Battle of, 298. 
Fall River, Mass., 26, 137. 
Faneuil Hall, 172. 
Farragut, Admiral, 303, 313. 
Fifteenth Amendment, The, 326. 
Fillmore, Millard, President, 280. 
Fitch, John, 241, 
Five Nations, The, 127, 150. 
Flag, United States, 199. 
Florida, 42, 47, 52, yj, 126, 128. 
129, 253, 254, 263, 264, 289, 331! 
" Flying Machine," The, 106. 
Flynt, Alice, 78. 
Forrest, General, 311. 
Fort Donelson, 302. 
Fort Du Ouesne, 152, 154, 177. 
Fort Fisher, 316. 
Fort Hatteras, 297. 
Fort Moultrie, 290, 291. 
Fort Pillow Massacre, 311, 319. 
Fort Pulaski, 302. 
Fort St. George, 53. 
Fort Sumter, 290, 291, 293. 
Fort Wagner, 310, 
Fortress Monroe, 236. 
Foster, General, 315. 



394 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



Fox, C. J., 174. 

Foxes, The, 263. 

Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, 151, 194, 

195, 206, 227, 328. 
Frederic City, Md., 299. 
Fredericksburg, Va., 300. 
Freedmen's Bureau, 324. 
Freesoil Party, 279, 280, 
Fremont, Gen. J. C, 277, 304. 
French and Indian Wars, 139, 141. 
Frietchie, Barbara, 299. 
Fugitive Slave Law, 281. 
Fulton, Robert, 241. 

G. 

Gadsden Purchase, The, 284. 

Gage, General, 178, 183, 184. 

Garfield, James A., 340. 

Garfield, Mrs., 342. 

Garner, Margaret, 281. 

Garrison, W. L., 264, 265, 268. 

" Gaspee," The, 169. 

Gates, General, 206. 

Geneva Tribunal, The, 326. 

" Genius of Universal Emancipa- 
tion," The, 264. 

Georgia, 127, 129, 130, 159, 226, 234, 
253, 264, 289, 290. 

Germantown, Pa., Battle of, 204. 

Gettysburg, Penn., Battle of, 306. 

Gillmore, General, 310. 

Goffe, William, 138. 

Gorton, Samuel, 78. 

Gosnold, Bartholomew, 51. 

Grant, U. S., President, 302, 311, 
312, 316, 326, 335. 

Gray, Capt. Robert, 246. 

Great March, The, 315. 

Greenback Party, 331. 

Green Mountain Boys, 229. 

Greene, Mrs., 226. 

Greene^ Gen. Nathanael, 183, 208, 
209. 

Greenland, 89. 

Grierson, Colonel, 308. 

Groton, Mass., 174. 

Guadalupe Hidalgo, Treaty of, 277, 
284. 

Gudrid, 29. 

" Guerriere," The, 249. 

Guilford, Conn., Old House in, 'j']. 

Guiteau, Charles J., 341. 



H. 

Hadley, Mass., 137, 138. 
Hale, Capt. Nathan, 210. 
" Half-Moon," The, 88. 
Halifax, N. S., 192. 
Hamilton, Alexander, 215, 221, 242 
Hancock, John, 179, 197. 
Hancock, Winfield S., 340. 
Harper's Ferry, Va., 286, 287, 288. 
Harrison, W. H., President, 249, 

267, 269, 270. 
Hartford, Conn., 71, 96, 175, 249. 
Hartford Convention, The, 249. 
Harvard University, 86, 118, 184. 
Havana, 39. 
Haverill, Mass., 144. 
Hawley, Major, 176. 
Hawthorne, N., 328. 
Hayes, Rutherford B., 331-334. 
Heights of Abraham, The, 155. 
Hendricks, Thomas A., 331, 343. 
Henry, Patrick, 163, 164, 176. 
Hertel de Rouville, 146. 
Hessians, The, 193, 203. 
Hiawatha, Legend of, 18. 
Higginson, Rev. Francis, 62, 63. 
Higginson, Rev. John, %"]. 
Hooker, Gen. J., 72, 306, 309. 
Hopeton, O., Mounds at, 7, 
Hosmer, Harriet, 328. 
Howe, General, 185, 192. 
Hudson, Henry, 88. 
Hudson River, 90, 150, 181, 209, 

241, 270. 
Hudson's Bay, 42. 
Huguenots, The, 125. 
Hull, General, 249. 
Humphreys, General, 317. 
Hunter, Gen. David, 303, 304, 310. 
Hurlgate, 70, 91. 
Hurons, The, 13. 
Hutchinson, Anne, 70. 
Hutchinson, Chief Justice, 165, 172 



Iceland, 27, 31. 
Illinois, 255, 270, 289. 
Illinois River, 139, 244,, 
Immigration, -^yj. 



INDEX. 



395 



Impeachment of President Johnson, 

325- 
Inauguration Ball, 224. 
India, Voyages in search of, ^2) 4o> 

47, 49- 
Indiana, 252, 256. 
Indians, American, 14, 89, 91, 93, 

96, 103, 106, 115, 131, 139, 142, 

151, 154, 177. 
Indians, American, Wars with, 131, 

142. 
Industry, 339. 

International Exhibition, 330. 
Iowa, 278, 283. 
Iroquois, The, 13. 
Irving, W., 328. 
Island No. 10, 302. 
Isles of Shoals, 115. 



J- 



Jackson, Andrew, President, 

251, 253, 262, 263, 265, 306. 
Jacksonville, Fla., 310. 
Jamaica, 37. 

James River, The, 113, 117. 
Jamestown, Va., 50, no, 113, 116, 

117, 139- 
Jay, John, 220. 
Jefferson, Thomas, President, 183, 

196, 221, 231, 235, 239, 241, 243, 

255- 
Jerry Rescue, 281. 
Johnson, Andrew, President, 323, 

324- 
Johnston, Gen. A. S., 302. 
Jones, Capt. John Paul, 200, 207. 

K. 

Kansas, 282, 284, 286, 335, 337. 
Kearny, Gen. Stephen, 277. 
" Kearsarge," The, 312. 
Kennebec River, 53, 57. 
Kent Island, Md., 121. 
Kentucky, 229, 230, 231, 252. 
Kieft, William, 96. 
Kilpatrick, General, 310. 
King George's War, 143. 
King Philip's War, 137, 138. 
King William's War, 143. 
King's College, 98. 



Know-Nothing Party, 285. 
Kosciusko, General, 205. 



Labrador, 41. 

La Fayette, General, 205, 256. 

Lake Champlain, 67. 

Lake Erie, 250, 260, 285. 

Lake Michigan, 243. 

Lake Superior, 9. 

Lane, Gen. J. H., 283, 306. 

La Salle, 244, 271. 

Lawrence, Captain, 249. 

" Lawrence," The, 250. 

Lawrence, Kan., 284. 

Lee, Gen. R. E., 189, 299, 318. 

Lee, Richard Henry, 195. 

Leif the Lucky, 28. 

Lewis and Clark's Expedition, 245, 

273- 

Lewistown, Del., First School for 
Girls, 105. 

Lexington, Mass., 178, 181,196. 

Leyden, 133. 

" Liberator," The, 264. 

" Liberty and Property," 165. 

Liberty Party, 273, 279. 

Liberty-Tree, 165, 166. 

Lincoln, Abraham, President, 289, 
294, 303, 320, 322. 

Lincoln, Abraham, President, Ex- 
tract from Inaugural Address, 320, 

Lincoln, Abraham, President, Ex- 
tract from Gettysburg Address, 

.3?9- 
Livingston, R. R., 196. 
Locke, John, 125. 
Logan, John A., 343. 
" Log-Cabin Candidate," 269. 
London Company, The, 52. 
Longfellow, H. W., 18, 26, 328. 
Long Island, 71, 96. 
Long River, 230. 

Lookout Mt., Tenn., Battle of, 309. 
Louisburg, 148, 176, 177. 
Louisiana Purchase, 230, 244, 266, 

278, 282, 292. 
Louisiana, State of, 253, 280, 289, 

293. 332- 
Lovejoy, Rev. E. P., 268. 
Lundy, Benjamin, 264. 
Lyon, Gen. N., 297. 



396 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



M. 

McClellan, Gen. G. B., 296, 297, 
299, 300. 

McDowell, General, 296. 

Madison, James, President, 248, 253. 

Maine, 52, 65, 83, 87, 115, 137, 209, 
255» 257, 270. 

Malvern Hills, Va., Battle of, 29S. 

Mammoth, The, 2. 

Mandans, The, 246. 

Manhattan Island, 91, 99. 

Mann, Horace, 281. 

Maps, Early, 34, 48, 49, 109. 

Marblehead, Mass., 148, 174. 

Marietta, O., Mounds at, 10. 

Marion, Gen. Francis, 208. 

Maroons, The, 264. 

Maryland, 42, 70, 121, 122, 123, 159, 
160, 165, 285, 295. 

Massachusetts, The, 13. 

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 60, 72, 
74, 200. 

Massachusetts, 81, 93, 96, 106, 136, 
148, 159, 164, 173, 178, 183, 195, 
214, 226, 231, 240, 257, 259, 
295. 

Mason, Capt. J., 134. 

Mason, J. M,, 298. 

Mason and Dixon's Line, 123. 

Mastodon, The, 2. 

" Mayflower," The, 56, 57, 59, 61. 

Mayhews, The, 136. 

Meade, Gen. G. G., 306. 

Med, a Slave-Child, 268. 

Medford, Mass., 179. 

" Merrimack" and " Monitor," Con- 
test of, 300. 

Merrimac River, 145. 

Merry Mount, 74. 

Mexican War, 273, 280, 281, 284. 

Mexico, 44, 50, 271, 276, 284. 

Mexico, Gulf of, 244. 

Michigan, 266. 

Minnesota, 292. 

Mississippi, 6, 7, 12, 156, 234, 257, 

335- 
Mississippi River, 139, 230, 234, 243, 

244, 252, 293. 
Missouri, 255, 270, 283, 286, 297, 
Missouri Compromise, The, 256, 282, 
Missouri River, 283. 
Mobile Bay, Naval Action in, 313. 
Mohegans, The, 13. 



" Monitor," The, 300. 
Monitors, 310, 314. 
Monongahela, The, 152. 
Monroe, James, President, 2^8, 253. 
Montcalm, General, 155. 
Monterey, Battle of, 275. 
Monterey, Cal., 277. 
Montgomery, General, 283. 
Morgan, General, 308. 
Mormons, The, 270, 282. 
Morosa, a Name for Virginia, 52. 
Morse, Prof. S. F. B., 273, 328. 
Mound-Builders, The, 14. 
Mount Hope, 137. 



N. 



" Narragansetts," The, 13, 26, 

69, 138. 
Narragansett Bay, 169. 
Nashville, Tenn., 302. 
Natick, Mass., Indian Village at, 

136. 
National Road, The, 252. 
Nauvoo, 111., 270. 
Nebraska, 282, 284, 325. 
Nevada, 325. 
New Amsterdam, 91, 93. 
New Brunswick, 270. 
New Hampshire, 66, 67, 83, 115, 

148, 159, 183, 206, 229, 268^ 
New Haven, Conn., 72, Sy. 
New Jersey, 98, 99, 140, 159, 203. 
New Mexico, 10, 277, 282, 284. 
New Netherlands, 72, 91, 93, 95, 97, 

107. 
New Orleans, La., 150, 251, 252, 

262, 303. 
New Sweden, 107, 108. 
New York, 67, 72, 98, 127, 140, 159, 

165, 196, 198, 215, 229, 260, 267, 
270, 272, 280, 295. 

New York, City of, 44, 91, 103, 106. 

166, 173, 199, 202, 203, 211, 212. 
217, 218, 241, 260, 295. 

Newfoundland, 156. 
Newport, R. I., 25, 26, 44, 169, 211. 
Newport, Captain, no. 
Niagara, 154. 

Nor'th Carolina, 44, 159, i79> 215, 
231, 291. 



INDEX. 



397 



I 



Northampton, Mass., 176. 
Northmen, The, 25, 26, 28. 
Northwest Territory, The, 231, 

243, 266, 279. 
Nova Scotia, 29, 44, 148, 177. 
Nueces, River, 274. 



o. 

Oglethorpe, Gen. James, 127. 

Ohio, 6, 149, 152, 248, 252. 

Ohio River, 139, 231, 253. 

Old French and Indian War, The, 

151. 
Old Stone Mill at Newport, R.I., 25. 
Old Point Comfort, Va., 113. 
Old South Church, Boston, 172. 
Oliver, Andrew, 165. 
" Onrust," or " Unrest," The, 91. 
Ordinance of 1787, 231, 254, 266. 
Oregon, 273, 292. 
Orleans, Territory of, 253. 
Osceola, 264. 
Ossawattomie, Kan., 283. 
Otis, James, 164. 



P. 

Pacific Railway, The, 327. 

Pacific Ocean, The, 11, 43. 

Page, William, 328. 

Paine, Thomas, 195, 241. 

Palo Alto, Battle of, 274. 

Patroons, 92, 270. 

Parker, Capt. John, 179. 

Parker, Theodore, 281. 

Penn, William, loi, 139, 140, 141. 

Pennsylvania, loi, 104, 107, 123, 139, 

140, i59,.i95» 203. 
Pennsylvania Hall, Burning of, 268. 
"Pennsylvania Journal," The, 199. 
Pepperrell, Gen. William, 148. 
Pequots, The, 13. 
Percy, Lord, 182. 
Perry, Com. M. C, 276, 284. 
Perrv, Com. O. H., 250. 
Phelps, Gen. J. W., 303. 
Philadelphia, Penn., 98, 103, 105, 

J5i> ^7?,, 176, 194, 200, 204, 212, 

215, 224, 227, 232, 330. 
"Philadelphia," The, 237. 



Phillips, Wendell, 281. 

Pierce, Franklin, President, 282. 

Pilgrims, The, 56, 63, 67, 131. 

Pinckney, C. C., 233. 

Pine Tree Flag, The, 200. 

Pitcairn, Major, 179. 

Pitt, William, Earl of Chatham, 165. 

Pittsburg, Penn., 152. 

Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., Battle of, 

302. 
Plymouth, Mass., 115. 
Plymouth, Mass., Colony, 55, 62, 64, 

95. 131- 
Plymouth Company, 52. 
Pocahontas, 115. 
Polk, James K,, President, 273. 
Pontiac, 249. 

Poor Richard's Almanack, 227. 
Popham, George, his Colony, 53. 
Population, 336. 

Port Hudson, Surrender of, 308. 
Porter, Com. David, 250. 
Port Royal, S. C, 124, 297. 
Porto Rico, 37. 

Portsmouth, N. H., 66, 67, 87. 
Potatoes, Introduction of, 52. 
Potomac, 241. 
Powers, H., 323. 
Powhatan, 115. 

Prescott, General, 183, 184, 185. 
Preston, Captain, 168. 
Price, Dr., 195. 
Princeton, N. J., 100, 204. 
Pring, Martin, 66. 
Privateers, Confederate, 312, 
Provincial Congress, 178, 186. 
Providence, R. I., 69, 169, 170. 
Public Debt, 338. 
Pueblo Indians, The, 10. 
Pulaski, General, 205. 
Puritans, The, 15, 62, 63, 81, 85, 

104, 122, 136, 138. 
Putnam, Gen. Israel, 177, 183, 184, 

185, 186, 187, 191. 



Q- 



Quakers, The, 80. 81, 99, 106, 119, 

122, 140, 
Quebec, 150, 155, 156, I77- 
Queen Anne's War, 143. 
Queen Victoria, 342. 
Quincy, Josiah, 240. 



398 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 



R. 



Rafn, Professor, 25. 

Railroad, First American, 260. 

Ramsey, James, 241. 

Readjuster Party, 336. 

Rebellion, War of the, 285, 291, 293. 

Reconstruction Acts, 324. 

Red River Expedition, The, 310. 

" Redeemed Captive," The, 147. 

Reed, Adjutant-General, 199, 207. 

Republican Party, 279, 285, 289, 331. 

Resaca de la Palma, 274. 

Returning Boards, 331. 

Revere, Paul, 179. 

Revolutionary War, 159, 207, 221, 

228, 232, 241, 253, 259. 
Rhode Island, 29, 68, 70, 74, 83, 84, 

87, 138, 159, 165, 173, 183, 191, 

215, 270. 
Ribault, Jean, 124. 
Richmond, Va., 296, 317. 
Rio Grande, The, 274, 277. 
Roanoke Island, 51, 302. 
Robinson, Rev. John, 56, 133, 
Rocky Mountains, 244, 245. 
Rosecrans, General, 308. 
Roxbury, Mass., 62. 
Rumford, Count, 328. 

s. 

Sacramento River, 277, 278. 

Sacs, The, 263. 

St. Augustine, Fla., 43, 50, 126, 129, 

271. 
St. Lawrence, The, 49. 
St. Louis, Mo., 246. 
" St, Mary's, Pilgrims of," 121. 
St. Simons's Island, 129. 
Salem, Mass., 61, 62,63, Sy, 95. 
Salt Licks, Ky., 230. 
Sandy Hook, 89. 
San Francisco, Cal., 278. 
Sanitary Commission, Ihe, 318. 
San Juan d'Ulloa, 276, 
Santa Anna, General, 275. 
Saratoga, N Y., 206. 
Savannah, Ga., 128, 129, 212, 226. 
Saxton, Gen. Rufus, 306. 
Schofield, Gen., 316. 
Schoolcraft, H. R., 19. 



Schuyler, Philip, 189. 

Schuylkill River, The, 201. 

Scott, Gen. Wintield, 206, 263, 275, 

296, 297. 
Seguin, 71. 

Semmes, Captain, 313. 
Seminoles, The, 253, 263. 
" Serapis," The, 207, 208. 

" Seven Days' Battles, The," 298. 
Sewell, Chief Justice, 82, S7. 
Seward, W. H,, 322, 327. 
Seymour, General, 310. 
Shadrach Rescue, The, 281. 
Shaw, Colonel, 312, 
Shays' Rebellion, 214. 
" Shenandoah," The, 312. 
Sheridan, Gen. P. H., 312, 316, 317, 

318. 
Sherman, Gen. W. T., 309, 311, 315. 
Shoshones, The, 246. 
Six Nations, The, 13, 127, 150. 
" Skeleton in Armor," The, 26. 
Skraelings, The, 29. 
Slavery, American, 87, 92, 104, 117, 

123, 126, 268, 271, 279, 280. 
Slidell, J., 298. 
Smith, Capt. J., 58, 65, no, 114, 

116. 
Smith, Joseph, 270. 
South Carolina, 52, 129, 159, 173, 

208, 238, 262, 263, 265, 289, 290 

297, 335- 

South Mountain, Va., Battle of, 299. 
Specie Payments, 338. 
"Speedwell," The, 56, 57. 
Spencer, General, 183. 
Stamp Act, The, 161, 162, 163, 165, 

166. 
Standish, Lora, 59. 
Stan dish, Capt. Miles, 58, 59, 78, 

^33' 
Stanton, E. M., 327. 
Stark, Gen. John, 183, 205, 206. 
Stark, Molly, 206. 
" Star of the West," The, 290. 
State Rights, 289, 
Staten Island, 91. 
Steamboat, the first, 241. 
Stephens, A. H., 290, 291. 
Steuben, General, 205. 
Stillwater, N. Y., Battle of, 206. 
Stockton, Commodore, 277. 
Stonington, Conn., 134. 
Stony Mountains, The, 246. 



INDEX. 



399 



Stony Point, N.Y., Storming of, 207. 
Story, W. W., 328. 
Stuyvesant, Peter, 97, 108. 
Suffrage, Universal, 239, 327, 
Sumner, Charles, 281, 327. 
Sumter, Gen. Thomas, 208. 
Sutter, Captain, z-j'i. 
Snorri, 29. 
Sylvania, 102. 



Tariff, The, 261, 262, 344. 
'i'aylor, Zachary, President, 274, 275, 

280. 
Tea-party, Boston, 172. 
Tecumseh, 249, 269. 
Telegraph, the, 273. 
Tennessee, 230, 231, 291. 
" Tennessee," The, 314. 
Terry, Gen. A. H., 316. 
Texas, 267, 26S, 271, 277, 289, t,^'^,. 
" The Selling of Joseph," a tract, 87. 
Thomas, General, 309. 
Thompson, John, Hatter, 197 
Ticonderoga, 154, 183, 205. 
*' Tiger," The, 91. 
Tilden, Samuel J., 331. 
Tippecanoe, O., 249, 269 
Tobacco, Introduction of, 52. 
Toleration, Religious, 68, 99, 103, 

122, 216. 
Tories, The, 17^ 
Townshend, Cha^ies, 162. 
Treaties, 19, 151, 156, 206, 213, 220, 

^33, 237, 251, 254, 277, 284, 326. 
Trenton, N. J., 203, 217. 
Tri-mountain, 62. 
Turner, Nat., 265. 
Tuscaroras, The, 126. 
Tyler, John, 269, 270, 271. 
Tyrker, 28. 

u. 

Underhill, Captain, 134, 
United Colonies, 177, 196. 
United States, 199, 215. 
United States Constitution, 215. 
United States Troops, 335. 
University of Pennsylvania, 105. 
Upper California, 277. 
Utah, 271, 282. 



Valley Forge, Penn., 204, 206. 

Van Buren, Martin, President, 267, 
268, 269. 

Van Rensselaer, General, 249. 

Vera Cruz, Mexico, 275, 276. 

Vermont, 67, 83, 206, 229. 

Verrazzano, 44, 45. 

Vespucius, Americus, 37, 

Vicksburg, Miss., 304, 307. 

Vinland, 29, 31, y^, 34. 

Virgmia, 51, 52, 53, 56, 86, 106, 109, 
iio, 139, 152, 154, ^59, 163, 164, 
175, 189, i90> 195, 196,217,229, 
23o» 233, 234, 236, 240, 248, 253, 
254, 265, 270, 286, 288, 291, 296, 
297, 335- 



w. 

Wadsworth, William, 83, 84. 
Walking Purchase, The, 141. 
Wampanoags, 13. 
Warner, Seth, 229. 
Ward, Gen. Artemas, 1S3, 189. 
Warren, Gen, G. K., 317. 
Warren, Gen. Joseph, 177, 184, 185. 
Washington, George, President, 149, 
i5o> 152, i53r 154, 177, 189, 190, 

191, 192, 211, 2X2, 214, 215, 217, 
218, 220, 221, 222, 224, 225, 226. 
229, 231, 233, 239, 255, 283, 286, 
288, 295, 296, 297. 

Washington, Mrs. Martha, 223. 
Washington, D. C, 232, 251. 
Watertown, Mass., 69. 
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 207. 
Webster, Daniel, 270, 281. 
Weitzel, Gen. G., 317. 
" Welcome," The, 102. 
Wentworth, Benning, 67. 
Wesley, Rev. Charles, 129. 
Wesley, Rev. John, 129. 
West Point, N. Y. 209, 210. 
West Virginia, 325. 
Whalley, Richard, 138. 
Wheeler, William A., 331. 
Wheeling, Va., 252. 
White, Peregrine, 59. 
Whitefield, Rev. George, 129. 
Whitfield, Rev, Henry, 76. 
White Plains, 203, 



400 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES 



Whitney, Eli, 226. 
VVhittier, J. G., 299, 328. 
William and Mary College, 118. 
Williams, Rev. John, 146. 
Williams, Rev. Roger, 68, 70, 134. 
Wilmot Proviso, The, 279. 
Windham, Conn., 174. 
Windsor, Conn., 71. 
Winslow, Captain, 138. 
Winthrop, John, 62, 63, 64, 67, 69. 
Wisconsin, 278, 279. 
Wise, Governor, 288. 



Wolfe, General, 155, i6a, 
Worcester, Mass., 178. 
Worden, Commodore, 301.' 
Wyoming, Penn., 207^ 



Yale College, 86, 226. 
York River, 211. 
Yorktown, Va., 211, 212. 
Young, Br'gham, 282. 



ADDITIONAL INDEX. 



Barton, Clara, 350*. 

Bryan, William J., 347, 351*. 

BufEalo, N. Y., 351*. 

Cervera, Admiral, 348*. 

Cleveland, Giover, President, Second 

Election of, 346; Veto of Hawaiian 

Islands, 351*. 
Cuba, Blockade of, 348; Independence 

of, 352*. 
Cuban Question, Tlie, 346. 
Czolgosz, Leon, 351.* 
Dakota, North and South, 345. 
Dewey, Com. Geoige, 348. 
Harrison, Benjam'r, President, 344- 
Hawaiian Islands,Annexation of. 350*. 
Hobart, Garrett A., Vice-President, 

347. 
Hobson, R. P., Naval Constructor, 

34S*. 
Idaho, 345. 

Kent, Gen. J. F., 349*. 
Ladrones, 349,* 350*. 
Lawton, Gen. H. W., 349*. 
Lincoln, Abraham, 351*. 
Manila, Naval Battle of, 349*, 350*. 
McKinley, William, President, 348,35°; 

Re-election of, 351;* Death of, 3S»*' 



Merritt, Gen. Wesley, 359*. 

Miles, Gen. N. A., 359*. 

Monroe Doctrine, The, 346. 

Montana, 345. 

Morton, Levi P., 344. 

Nebraska, 347, 351*. 

Oklahoma, 345. 

Paris, Treaty of, 350*. 

Philippines, War in, 352*. 

Porto Rico, Possession of, 750*. 

Roosevelt, Lieut.-Col Theodore, 349* 

becomes President, 352*. 
Rough Riders, The, 349*. 
Sampson, Com. W. T., 348. 
Santiago, Capture of, 350*. 
Schley, Com. W. S., 359*. 
Shafter, Gen. W. R., 349*. 
Silver Question, The, 346. 
Thurman, Allen G., 344. 
Utah, 346. 

Venezuelan Question, The, 346. 
Washington, State of, 345. 
Wood. Col. Leonard, 349*. 
World's Fair, The, 345. 
Wyoming, 345. 



QUESTIONS. 



CHAPTER I. 

How much do we know about the first men and women who 
lived on the North American continent ? 

What changes have there been in the surface of the continent ? 

What animals, now extinct, have lived here in past times ? 

Describe the cloven-footed animals. 

Describe the mammoth and the mastodon. 

How is it supposed that these animals may have perished ? 

What reason have we to think that men may have lived at the 
same time with these animals ? 

CHAPTER II. 

What race of men followed the period of the mammoths ? 
How do we know that they did not live at the same time witli 
the mammoths .'' 

What great works did they leave ? 
Describe the serpent-mound. 

For what were the higher mounds probably built ? 
How did the mound-builders show engineering skill ? 
What arts did they understand ? 
How can we judge of their numbers ? 
Describe the mine left by them near Lake Superior. 
How can we judge of the time when they lived ? 
How far did they resemble the American Indians .'• 
Describe the Pueblo Indians, 

How can we judge whence the mound-builders came ? 
I* 



6 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

How many Asiatic vessels have been driven across the Pacific 
by storms ? 

How do we know that the mound-builders had seen the ocean ? 



CHAPTER III. 

Who occupied the coast of North America when the first Euro- 
pean explorers came ? 

Give the names of some of the tribes. 

To how many great families did they belong ? 

Describe the dwellings of the Indians. 

Describe their pursuits and ways of living. 

What were their habits of physical activity ? 

How did they dress ? 

What was their food ? 

What were their manufactures ? 

Describe their two most ingenious inventions. 

How were their tribes distinguished ? 

What were their legends and beliefs ? 

What money did they use ? 

Show how they communicated with one another, by drawing on 
bark. 

What were their virtues and vices ? 

Describe a war-feast. 

Describe their modes of making war. 

What has been their history, since the arrival of Europeans f 

CHAPTER IV. 

What is the "Old Stone Mill " at Newport, R.I. > 
To what early explorers has it been attributed ? 
What is the " Dighton Rock " ? 
What was the " Skeleton in Armor " ? 

What is now supposed to have been the origin of these variou 
objects ? 
Who were the Northmen ? 
What colonies did they found .'' 

What are their traditions as to the discovery of Vinland ? 
What were the adventures of Leif the Lucky ? 



QUESTIONS. 7 

Describe the interviews between the Northmen and the Skraeh 
ings. 

What is supposed to have been the true position of Vinland ? 

Why is it hard to know this position with certainty ? 

Have we yet any positive knowledge as to the supposed visit of 
the Northmen? 

CHAPTER V. 

How long was it before any more Europeans crossed the 
Atlantic ? 

How was the tradition of the voyages of the Northmen pre- 
served ? 

What sailors used to visit Iceland ? 

Who was Christopher Columbus ? 

What was his early life ? 

What plan of discovery had he formed ? 

How did ignorant people then suppose the earth to be shaped ? 

How did scientific men suppose it to be shaped ? 

Describe the map made by a friend of Columbus. 

What names of places does it show on the American conti- 
nent ? 

Where did Columbus expect to arrive, by crossing the Atlantic; 

What evidence had convinced him that he could reach India ? 

What may he have heard in Iceland ? 

To whom did he go for aid ? 

Who aided him finally ? 

With what vessels did he sail ? 

When did he sail ? 

Describe the voyage. 

How long was it .-* 

Where did he land .'* 

Describe his second voyage. 

When was his third voyage ? 

What did Americus Vespucius discover ? 

When did he discover it.^ 

How came the continent to bear his name ? 

Who reached the North American coast before Columbus? 

What happened to Columbus on his third voyage ? 

What was the last voyage of Columbus ? 



YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

What continent did he suppose himself to have visited ? 
When did he die ? 
Where was he buried ? 

CHAPTER VI. 

Who was John Cabot ? 

What was his patent ? 

When did he sail ? 

Describe their voyage. 

What honors were paid John Cabot ? 

Describe Sebastian Cabot's voyage. 

Describe his old age. 

Who was Ponce de Leon ? 

Why did he visit Florida ? 

When did he sail ? 

When did he see land } 

From what did the name of Florida come ? 

Where did Ponce de Leon land ? 

When did he come again ? 

What did Balboa discover ? 

What did he do on reaching the Pacific Ocean ? 

What did Cortez conquer ? 

What did Pizarro conquer ? 

Who was Verrazzano ? 

When did he sail ? 

Describe his voyage. 

How did he describe the Indians ? 

How did the coast look when he approached it .'' 

What treasures did he think he had found .'' 

What did the King of France say ? 

CHAPTER VH. 

What voyages to America have been described in this book } 

To whom may the first explorers be compared .'' 

How did they describe the new country ? 

For what did the different nations seek ? 

Where did they suppose India to be .'' 

How did their maps vary ? 



QUESTIONS. 9 

How could they decide who should own the lands they visited ? 
What was the first permanent European settlement? 
By whom was it made ? and when ? 

By what names did they call what is now called North 
America ? 

How is it represented on the early globes ? 

What efforts did the English make to settle North America ? 

What did they call it ? and why ? 

What unsuccessful colonies were founded ? 

What did Sir Walter Raleigh carry from America to England ? 

What companies did King James I. charter ? 

What territory did he give them ? 

How did the books of that day describe this territory? 

How did King James divide it ? 

What were the two companies named ? 

What happened to the southern colony ? 

What happened to the northern colony ? 

What account did the colonists give ? 

Which was the first English colony ? 

What order will be followed in describing the colonies ? 



CHAPTER Vni. 

What was the name of the earliest New England colony ? 
What troubles took place in England two centuries and a hali 
ago? 

Where did the persecuted Englishmen go ? 

How did they behave there ? 

Why did they leave that place ? 

Why were they called Pilgrims ? 

How many went first ? 

What vessels did they procure ? 

Describe their departure. 

Did they have aid from government } 

Did they have a royal charter ? 

How long was their passage ? 

Where did they intend to land ? 

Describe their arrival. 

Describe their first landing. 



lO YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

When did the whole party land ? 

What was the harbor named ? 

Who is said to have landed first ? 

What government did they form ? 

Who were their first officers? 

How were their soldiers armed ? 

What did they bring on shore ? 

What baby was born on " The Mayflower " ? 

What houses did they build ? 

Describe their way of living. 

How many died the first winter ? 

How many went home in the spring ? 

What other colony was founded ? 

Where did the colonists land ? 

How long was their voyage ? 

Describe their approach to the shore. 

Who had preceded them ? 

How many came with this colony ? 

Who was the leader ? 

When did they come .'' 

Who followed them the next year ? 

How did this colony differ from that of Plymouth ? 

Did they have ? charter from the king ? 

What towns did they found ? 

What was the difference between the Puritans and the Pilgrims \ 

What did their leader say on leaving England ? 

How did they live after landing ,'' 

What did they think of the climate ? 

What did Governor Winthrop say of the colony ? 

Which colony grew most rapidly .'' 

When were they united ? 

What does the word Massachusetts mean ? 



CHAPTER IX. 

Who first visited Maine ? and when .'' 

Why did the early colonies fail ? 

What did the name of Maine come from ? 

What was its connection with Massachusetts ? 



QUESTIONS. 1 1 

When were the first towns founded ? 

How did the Maine settlements differ from those elsewhere ? 

Was Maine counted as a separate colony ? 

Who first visited New Hampshire ? 

When were the first towns settled ? 

For what purpose were the first settlements ? 

Through what changes of government did New Hampshire 
pass ? 

What had it to do with Vermont ? 

Whence was the name of New Hampshire derived ? 

When was Vermont first explored ? and by whom ? 

What was its early history ? 

What is the derivation of its name ? 

How, and by whom, was Rhode Island founded ? 

Who was the founder ? 

What were his opinions ? 

What led him to Rhode Island ? 

When did he arrive ? 

Whom did he invite to come ? 

Who were some of those who came ? 

What was the colony called ? 

What were their habits as to religious toleration? 

What was the feeling of the other colonies towards Rhode 
Island ? 

Who first explored Connecticut ? 

Who were the rival nations wh . first settled it ? 

What were the first settlements ? 

What parties of emigrants came to Connecticut ? 

What two colonies were established ? 

How did the troubles between the English and Dutch end ? 

CHAPTER X. 

In what respect were the New England colonies alike ? 

What was the character of their leaders ? 

Describe an early New England village on Sunday morning. 

Describe the church services. 

Describe the houses. 

Describe the appearance of the people. 



12 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

Describe the soldiers. 

What were some of the laws of the Puritans ? 
What was the general aim of their laws ? 
What did they declare to be the object of their colony ? 
Why were they especially tempted to persecute those who dif 
fered from them ? 

Describe their treatment of the Quakers. 

What foolish things did some of the more excited Quakers do } 

Describe the witchcraft excitement. 

Was it peculiar to Massachusetts ? 

What effect did it have ? 

What were the charters of the colonies ? 

What trouble did they have about these charters .'' 

For what did Sir Edmund Andros come.'' 

What did he accomplish ? 

What league existed among the New England colonies ? 

What colonies joined it ? 

How long did it last ? 

What effect did the contest about charters have ? 

What were the occupat ons of the people ? 

What did they use for money? 

What were their habits as to food, and to amusements ? 

By what titles were people called ? 

When were the first colleges and presses established ? 

What newspapers and books were printed ? 

What was the history of slavci^ m New England ? 

CHAPTER XI. 

Who was Henry Hudson } 

What were his early voyages ? * 

When did he sail for America .-* 

Describe his voyage. 

When did he arrive ? 

Describe his ascent of the Hudson River. 

What became of Henry Hudson ? 

What is still said of him on the Hudson River ? 

How came Holland to claim his discoveries ? 

Who was Adrian Block ? and what did he accomplish? 



QUESTIONS. , 13 

What was New Amsterdam ? 

What did Manhattan Island cost ? 

For what was Staten Island named ? 

Who were the " Patroons " ? 

How came the Dutch and English settlers to quarrel ? 

What other troubles had the Dutch settlers ? 

Describe New Amsterdam and the Dutch way of living. 

What festivals did the Dutch introduce ? 

What was their food ? 

Who were the " dominies " ? 

How did the people dress ? 

What were their pursuits ? 

Who was " William the Testy " ? 

Who was " Headstrong Peter " ? 

How came the colony to be transferred to the English ? 

What Dutch traits remained ? 

How many languages were spoken in New York when it was 
transferred ? 

What was the early history of New Jersey ? 

From what was the colony named ? 

Why was it commonly called " The Jerseys " ? 

What was the practice as to liberty of conscience ? 

When were the two provinces united ? 

What was said by a traveller as to the way of living in New 
Jersey ? 

CHAPTER XII. 

Who founded the Pennsylvania colony ? 
Describe William Penn. 
How did he obtain the territory ? 
Why was it named Pennsylvania ? 
When did William Penn come to America ? 
What did he promise to the colonists ? 
Describe his colony. 
When did William Penn return to it ? 
How were the first settlers employed ? 
Describe Philadelphia in early times. 
How many Germans came to the colony in a single year ? 
What was the rank of Pennsylvania among the colonies, at the 
time of the Revolution ? 2 



14 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

Who first explored Delaware ? and when ? 

By what nation was it colonized ? 

Who was Gustavus Adolphus ? 

What sort of colony did the Swedes plan ? 

Who was Queen Christina ? 

When was the colony at last established ? 

How did the Dutch and the Swedes agree ? 

How long was Delaware an independent colony ? 

To what different nations did it belong ? 

Did it suffer much from the Indians ? 



CHAPTER Xni. 

What was the first English colony ? 
Why is Virginia called " The Old Dominion " ? 
When was the first Virginia settlement made ? Where ? 
Describe Capt. John Smith's early life. 
What was the character of the first colony ? 
What did Captain Smith say about the colonists ? 
What were some of the punishments that he appointed for them } 
How did he describe their way of living ? 
What voyages did he make along the coast ? 
What adventures had he with the Indians ? 
What became of Pocahontas ? 
What became of Capt. John Smith ? 
What became of the settlers ? 
What was the ** starving time " ? 
How did the people of Virginia live ? 
How was slavery introduced ? 
How did the people obtain wives ? 
How did the early governors regard schools ? 
What were some of the early laws ? 
How large were the plantations ? 
How did an early governor go to church ? 
What old buildings remain in Virginia ? 

What position had Virginia among the colonies at the time of 
tfie Revolution ? 

How was Maryland settled ? 

Who obtained a charter for the colony ? 



I 



QUESTIONS. 15 

When did the first expedition arrive ? 

Why was the colony called Maryland ? 

How was it to be governed ? 

What form of religion prevailed in it ? 

What religions were protected there ? 

What religious changes took place afterwards ? 

What were the habits of the people ? 

What was " Mason and Dixon's line " ? 

Why was it important ? 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Who first applied the name of Carolina ? 
When did the French explorers arrive ? 
What grant did King Charles I. give ? 
What was John Locke's plan of government ? 
Who were the Huguenots ? 

How did the people live in the southern part of Carolina ? 
How in the northern part ? 
What enemies and wars did the colonies have ? 
How came North and South Carolina to be separated ? 
Who was the founder of Georgia ? 
Decribe his life. 
When did he send a colony ? 
For what purpose was it established ? 
What intercourse did he have with the Indians ? 
Who were the Moravians ? 
Who visited him ? 

Describe the war between Georgia and Florida. 
What were some of the laws of Georgia ? 
How did it become a royal province ? 
What was the Scotch settlement in Georgia ? 
What was the success of the silk manufacture there ? 
What position had Georgia among the colonies at the time of 
the Revolution ? 

CHAPTER XV. 

Who were the first Indians seen by the Pilgrims at Plymouth ? 
Who was Samoset ? 
Who was Massasoit ? 



1 6 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

What was the first war between the Plymouth settlers and the 
Indians ? 

What was the mode of trading with the Indians ? 

Describe the Pequot War. 

What clergymen taught the Indians ? 

Who was Dreuilletes ? 

Describe King Philip's war. 

What is the tradition of the "Gray Champion" at Hadley. 
Mass. ? 

What expedition was sent against the Narragansetts ? 

What was the fate of King Philip ? 

What Indian wars took place in New York ? In Virginia ? 

Who was Nathaniel Bacon ? 

What course did William Penn pursue towards the Indians ? 

Did he have to deal with the same tribes that inhabited New 
England and New York ? 

What was William Penn's elm-tree ? 

What was the " Walking Purchase " ? 



CHAPTER XVI. 

How was the condition of the Indians altered after white 
settlers had come ? 

Why did they prefer the French to the English ? 

What were the names of the different wars with the French and 
Indians ? 

How were these wars carried on ? 

What was a block-house ? 

What were the adventures of the Duston family ? 

Describe the attack on Deerfield. 

What had the French missionaries to do with the Indian wars } 

What was the Louisburg expedition ? 

How much of North America did the French claim ? 

For what was George Washington sent into the wilderness ? 

What were his adventures ? 

Who were the " Five Nations " ? 

Who were the " Six Nations " ? 

What convention was held at Albany ? 

What advice did Dr. Franklin give .-* 



QUESTIONS. 

What was the removal of the Acadians ? 

What led to the building of Fort Uu Quesne ? 

Describe Braddock's expedition. 

When did it take place ? 

What effect did it have ? 

Describe the capture of Quebec. 

When was peace made ? 

Describe the conspiracy of Pontiac ? 

How did he capture Michilimackinac ? 

What was the fate of Pontiac ? 



CHAPTER XVn. 

What were the " old thirteen " colonies ? 

What difference existed among them ? 

In what were they alike ? 

What led them to separate from England ? 

What reason was there for taxing the colonies } 

Why did they object ? 

When was the Stamp Act passed ? 

What was the Stamp Act ? 

What did Colonel Barre say about it ? 

What did Patrick Henry propose ? 

What did James Otis propose ? 

What was the first Am.erican Congress? 

What was it agreed to do in regard to British goods ? 

What popular excitement took place in Boston ? In Maryland? 
In Rhode Island ? In Connecticut ? In New York ? 

What did the Earl of Chatham say ? 

Wh-at was the end of the Stamp Act ? 

What other act followed ? 

What complaint did the Boston boys make of the troops ? 

Describe the Boston Massacre. 

When did it take place ? 

Describe the destruction of the "Gaspee." 

What tax was finally insisted upon ? 

Describe the Boston tea-party. 

What happened in New York ? Philadelphia ? Charleston ? 
Annapolis ? 



1 8 YOUNG folks' united STATES. 

What organizations were formed in New England ? 

What was the Boston Port Bill ? 

What effect did it have ? 

Describe Boston in 1774. 

Who were the Tories ? 

What were their arguments ? 

What did the patriotic colonists reply ? 

Why did they feel self-confident ? 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

What brought about the " Provincial Congress " ? 

What did it do ? 

What were the British doing ? 

What watch was kept over them from Charlestown ? 

What was Paul Revere's ride ? 

How many British soldiers went out from Boston ? 

On what day was the battle of Lexington ? 

Describe it. 

What did the minute-men see from the bridge at Concord? 

Describe the Concord fight. 

Describe the retreat of the British soldiers. 

How did it end ? 

What was said about it in England ? 

What did Samuel Adams and Thomas Jefferson say about it ? 

What troops were sent to Boston ? 

Who commanded them ? 

What was the state of affairs in Boston ? 

What was the occasion of the battle of Bunker Hill ? 

Describe the work done the night before. 

Describe the approach of the British. 

Describe the main battle. 

How many times did the British soldiers advance .-* 

How did the battle end ? 

What general fell ? 

What was said about him ? 

CHAPTER XIX. 

What was the effect of the battle of Bunker Hill in America.^ 
What was said about it in England ? 



QUESTIONS. 19 

What generals were appointed for the army ? 

Why was Washington appointed ? 

When did he take command of the army ? and where i 

What was his appearance ? 

How did the army appear ? 

What did it need most ? 

How was it supplied ? 

What was the condition of the British ? 

Describe the play called " The Blockade of Boston." 

How did Washington finally drive out the British ? 

When did General Howe leave the city ? 

Who went with him to Halifax ? 

What did the British Government do ? 

What effect had this on the Americans > 



CHAPTER XX. 

What had the Continental Congress to do ? 

What did Dr. Franklin say about the situation 1 

What was the real state of the colonies } 

What did Washington say ? 

What book had great influence ? 

Who proposed independence ? 

What were Lee's famous resolutions ? 

When were they offered ? 

What action did the separate colonies take ? 

Who wrote the Declaration of Independence "i 

Who criticised it ? 

What did Jefferson say about the debate ? 

When was the Declaration adopted ? 

What did Hancock and Jefferson say about it ? 

What change was made in it ? 

What colonies voted for it ? 

How was its adoption announced ? 

How did the Pennsylvania Journal describe it } 

What was the real state of the army ? 

What did Adjutant-General Reed say ? 

What were the first American flags ? 

What flag was unfurled at Cambridge t 



20 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

When was the present flag adopted ? 

Who first unfurled it ? 

What changes have been made in it ? 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Where had all the fighting been before the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence ? 

Why did Washington send an army to New York ? 

What British troops went there ? 

What trouble did Lord Hov/e find in sending a letter to Gene- 
ral Washington ? 

What ill success had the American troops ? 

How many men had Washington in Pennsylvania ? 

Who were the Hessians ? 

What plan of attack did Washington form ? 

How did it end ? 

What other victory did he gain ? 

Where did he spend the winter ? 

Describe the winter at Valley Forge. 

What foreign officers had joined the Americans ? 

What criticisms were made upon Washington ? 

What did General Burgoyne do ? 

Describe the battle at Bennington. 

What other battles followed .-* 

How did General Burgoyne's expedition end ? 

What effect had the surrender ? 

What treaty was made ? 

What did parliament attempt ? 

How much aid did France give ? 

How much longer did the war last ? 

What was the battle of Stony Point ? 

What happened at Charleston ? 

What happened at Wyoming ? 

What victory did Paul Jones obtain .'' 

What did Marion and Sumter do ? 

Who was Benedict Arnold ? 

What treason did he plan ? 

Describe the capture of Andre. 



QUESTIONS. 21 

What was the fate of Arnold ? 
What French army had landed ? 
What led to the defeat of Cornwallis ? 
When did he surrender ? 
Describe his surrender. 
How was it celebrated ? 
How long had the war lasted ? 
What had it cost England ? 
How long did the British still hold New York? 
/ What was the treaty of Paris ? 

CHAPTER XXH. 

When was the Revolutionary army disbanded ? 
"What was the condition of the colonies ? 
What was the state of the army ? 
What was Shays' Rebellion ? 

What kind of government had the Americans during the 
war? 

"Why did they need a stronger one ? 
"What convention was called ? 
When was the Constitution adopted? 



ion 



Who urged its adopt 

Which States adopted it ? 

When did the colonies become a nation ? 

What celebration took place ? 

Who were the first President and "Vice-President ? 

What celebration took place at Trenton ? 

How was Washington received in New York ? 

Describe the first inauguration. 

When did his term of office begin ? 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

In what condition did Washington find the affairs of the 
nation ? 

What was soon accomplished ? 

What was Jay's treaty ? 

How did Americans feel towards France ? 



22 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

Who were the " Federalists " and the *' Democrats " ? 

How did they differ in regard to public forms and ceremo- 
nies ? 

What was President Washington's way of living ? 

How did ladies and gentlemen dress in those days ? 

What amusements prevailed ? 

What were the chief occupations of the people ? 

How did people live in the country ? 

What was the history of the cotton-gin ? 

What was the career of Benjamin Franklin ? 

When did he die ? 

What new States were admitted under Washington's adminiS' 
tration, and when ? 

How did Vermont become an independent colony ? 

Who was Ethan Allen ? 

What was the early history of Kentucky ? 

Who was Daniel Boone ? 

Who first explored Tennessee ? 

Who was De Soto ? 

How was he buried ? 

What was the proposed State of Franklin ? 

How many States composed the Union at the end of Washing 
ton's administration ? 

What was the North-west Territory ? 

How had slavery been excluded from it ? 

What was the population of the United States in 1790? 

How long was Washington president ? 

Who was his successor ? 

Where was the seat of government under President Adams ? 

What trouble was there between France and the United States .' 

What did the American ambassadors say about paying m.onei 
to France ? 

How was war averted ? 

What made President Adams's administration unpopular ? 

What were the Alien and Sedition Laws ? 

How was Mr. Jefferson chosen president ? 

When did Washington die ? 

What was the feeling about him ? 

What was the population of the United States in 1800 f 



QUESTIONS. 23 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Who was President Jefferson ? 

How long was he president ? 

What influence had the war between France and England on 
American affairs ? 

What was the " right of search " claimed by the English ? 

What was the affair between the " Chesapeake " and the 
'■' leopard " ? 

What was the embargo. 

What had the United States to do with the Barbary States ? 

What gallant deed took place in the harbor of Tripoli ? 

What changes did President Jefferson introduce ? 

What law was passed about the African slave-trade ? 

What attempts were made to invent steamboats ? 

Who first successfully introduced them ? and when ? 

Who was Aaron Burr ? 

Describe his career. 

What State was admitted under Jefferson ? and when } 

What was the early history of Ohio ? 

What great purchase of territory took place in President Jeffer- 
son's time ? 

How was the Mississippi River first explored ? 

Who was La Salle ? 

Why was the region explored by him named Louisiana? 

How came the United States Government to buy it ? 
* What were its boundaries ? 

How large was its area ? 

What effect had its purchase on the size of the national terri- 
tory ? 

What was Lewis and Clark's expedition ? 

Describe what they did and saw. 

Who first visited the Columbia River ? 

Who setded the Pacific coast ? 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Between what years was Madison president ? 
What caused the war of 1813 ? 



24 YOUNG FOLKS' UNITED STATES. 

What was the popular feeling about it ? 

What was the Hartford Convention ? 

How did the war open ? 

What had Tecumseh to do with it ? jl 

What naval battles took place ? 

Describe the battle of Lake Erie. 

Describe the loss of the " Essex." 

How long did the war last > ^ | 

What took place in the last year ? |? 

Describe the battle of New Orleans. |j 

What treaty closed the war ? : 

Did it settle the disputed points ? 

How long before there was another war ? 

What was the population of the United States in iSio.-* 

What was the " national road " ? 

Describe the western emigration. 

How many immigrants came from Europe } 

What new States were added under Madison ? 

From what was Louisiana formed ? 

What had it previously been called? 

Whence came the name of Indiana ? 

Who succeeded Madison ? 

How long was his administration .-' 

What was it called ? 

Describe the Seminole war. 

How was Florida obtained ? 

What did it cost ? 

How did the antislavery question arise ? 

What four States were admitted under Monroe's administra- 
tion ? 

How did it happen that free and slave States came in alter- 
nately ? 

What trouble finally came up about Missouri ? 

What was said in the discussion ? 

What was the Missouri Compromise ? 

What was it supposed to have settled ? 

What foreign visitor came to America ? 

How was the State of Illinois formed and named .'' 

Mississippi ? 



QUESTIONS. 25 



Alabama ? 

Missouri ? 

Maine ? 

How many States were there now in the Union ? 

What was the population in 1820 ? 

What was the " Monroe doctrine " ? 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

What president followed Monroe ? 
How long was John Quincy Adams president ? 
What had he heard in his youth ? 

What internal improvements took place during his adminis- 
tration ? 

Describe the Erie Canal. 

Describe the first American railroads. 

What fears existed about them ? 

When did John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die ? 

Describe their deaths. 

What was the tariff question ? 

What president followed John Quincy Adams ? 

How long did Jackson serve ? 

What had been his previous career ? 

What was his character ? 

What was nullification in South Carolina .-* 

How did it end ? 

What was done with the Indian tribes at this time ? 

What was the Seminole war ? 

Who was Osceola ? 

What were his wrongs ? 

How did the war end ? 

What did it cost ? 

Who was Benjamin Lundy ? 

What did Mr, Garrison do ? 

Who was Nat Turner,^ 

What law did the president propose ? 

How did people regard General Jackson ? 

What bad practice did he introduce ? 

What was the " surplus reveniie " ? 



26 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

What was the population of the United States in 1830 ? 

What two new States were added to the Union? 

From what was Arkansas formed ? 

When was it admitted ? 

From what was Michigan formed ? 

When was it admitted ? 

Were they slave States, or free States ? 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

What president followed Jackson ? 

How long did he serve ? 

How did the Whigs and Democrats differ ? 

What rebellion took place in Canada ? 

What events happened during the antislavery agitation ? 

What plan of annexation was brought forward in Congress ? 

What took place in Congress in regard to petitions ? 

Why was not Mr. Van Buren re-elected ? 

What was the population of the United States in 1840 ? 

What president followed Van Buren ? 

Who was the " Log Cabin candidate " .'' 

How long did General Harrison live ? 

Who followed him .'' 

What was the " Ashburton treaty " ? 

What was the " Dorr war " ? 

What troubles took place along the Hudson ? 

Who were the Mormons ? 

What State was admitted under Tyter ? 

What was the history of Florida ? 

What foreign State was annexed ? 

What was the history of Texas ? 

What reason did Mr. Calhoun give for annexing it ? 

How large was it ? 

When was it annexed ? 

What did it cost ? 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

What president succeeded Mr. Tyler > 
How long was his administration ? 



QUESTIONS. 27 

What was the first news sent by telegraph in America ? 

What new party opposed Mr. Polk ? 

What was the claim of the United States to Oregon ? 

What was the Oregon treaty ? 

How did the Mexican war originate ? 

What did congress vote ? 

What victories did General Taylor win ? 

What city and fort did General Scott take ? 

What naval commander assisted ? 

What other battles took place ? 

When was the city of Mexico captured ? 

How large an army took it ? 

What other Mexican provinces were taken ? 

What did Captain Fremont accomplish ? 

What was the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ? 

When was it made and ratified ? 

What was then known of California ? 

How rapidly did San Francisco grow ? 

What was the origin of the name California ? 

How many States were admitted under Polk's administration? 

How many did they make in all ? 

When was Texas admitted ? 

When Iowa ? and from what Territory was it made ? 

When Wisconsin ? and from what Territory ? 

Why did the antislavery excitement increase ? 

What was the Wilmot Proviso ? 

What new party arose ? 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

What president succeeded Mr. Polk ? 

When was Taylor inaugurated ? » 

When did he die ? 

Who took his place ? 

What were the " Compromise Measures " } 

What was the Fugitive Slave Law ? 

When did it pass ? 

What excitements grew out of it ? 

What new State came in during Fillmore's administration ? 



28 YOUNG folks' UNITED STATES. 

What Territories were organized out of territory gained from 
Mexico ? 

What was the population of the United States in 1850? 

Who succeeded Mr. Fillmore ? 

What change of policy took place as to the Missouri Compro- 
mise ? 

What new Territories were proposed .'' 

What took place in Kansas ? 

Who were the " Border Ruffians " ? 

Who were the Free State leaders ? 

Who was Capt. John Brown ? 

How did the Kansas struggle end ? 

What was the " Gadsden Purchase " ? 

How large was the area of the United States in 1854? 

How did it compare with the area of the original thirteen 
States ? 

With that of the Roman empire ? 

What was the Japanese treaty ? 

What were the parties at the next presidential election ? 

Who was chosen president ? 

For what was his term chiefly remarkable ? 

CHAPTER XXX. 

When was Mr. Buchanan inaugurated ? 
What was the " Dred Scott Decision " } 
What were John Brown's plans ? 
Describe his raid. 

What did Colonel Washington say of him ? 
What did Governor Wise say about him ? 
When was he executed ? 
What became of his companions ? 
Who was the rext president ? 
What was thought of him ? 
What was the State-Rights doctrine ? 
What State seceded first ? 
. What States afterwards ? 

Who were chosen as officers of the Southern Confederacy ? 
What was its main principle ? 



QUESTIONS. 29 

What did Major Anderson do ? 

Describe the attack on Fort Sumter. 

What effect had this attack ? 

What did President Buchanan do ? 

What new States came into the Union while he was in office ? 

How did their names originate ? 

What was the population of the United States in i860 ? 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

What was the feeling in the Northern States on hearing of the 
attack on Fort Sumter ? 

What had been the feeling before this ? 
What was President Lincoln's first step ? 
What happened in Baltimore ? 



How were troops sent to Washingti 



on 



I 



What was the most essential thing at first ? 
How was the army colbcteu? 
What was the blockade ? 
When were troops sen': into Vir^^inia.'* 
What happened to Colonel Ellsworth? 
Where was the first fighting.? 
Describe the battle of Bail Run. 
What other defeat took place ? 
What successes ,-' 
What change of commanders ? 
What was the condition of the navy 
What position did European governments take ? 
What took place in regard to Mason and Slidell ? 
How large was the Union army in 1862 ? 
What was General McClellan's policy .!* 
Describe the battle of Fair Oaks. 
Describe the seven-days' battles. 
Describe Lee's invasion of Maryland. 
Describe the battle of Antietam. 
What change of commanders took place ? 

Describe the contest between the "Monitor" and "Merri- 
mack " } 

What took place on the southern coast ? 



30 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

What at the west ? 

Describe the battle of Pittsburg Landing. 

Describe the taking of New Orleans. 

What was the original policy of the Union Government as to 
slavery ? 

What was the president's Emancipation Proclamation ? 

What were the first colored regiments ? 

What was the president's second proclamation ? 

What took place at the battle of Chancellorsville ? 

What discouragements occurred at this period of the war ? 

Describe Lee's invasion. 

How many were engaged at Gettysburg ? 

What was the turning-point of the war ? 

Describe the surrender of Vicksburg. 

Describe Grierson's and Morgan's raids. 

How did the Mississippi become finally opened to Union 
vessels ? 

What were the draft riots in New York ? 

What defeat took place at Chickamauga ? 

Describe the battles at Chattanooga. 

What was the siege of Charleston? 

What took place at Fort Wagner ? 

What did President Lincoln say at the end of 1863 ? 

What attacks were made early in 1864 ? 

What two movements did General Grant plan ? 

What did he accomplish in Virginia ? 

What was Early's raid ? 

What was the St. Alban's raid ? 

What was ** Sheridan's ride " ? 

What was the career of the Confederate privateers ? 

What was their final engagement ? 

Describe the naval action in Mobile Bay. 

Describe the destruction of the " Albemarle." 

What was Sherman's "march to the sea" ? 

What Christmas gift did he offer to President Lincoln ? 

What was Sherman's march from Savannah northward ? 

What did he prove the Confederacy to be ? 

When was Charleston captured ? 

What was Fort Fisher ? 



QUESTIONS. 31 

When did Grant's final movement begin ? 

What was the battle of Five Forks ? 

Describe the evacuation of Richmond. 

Who finally occupied it, and when .-* 

What was the condition of Lee's army ? 

When was it surrendered ? 

How was Jefferson Davis captured ? 

What had the civil war cost ? 

What good had it effected ? 

What did it prove ? 

What was the Sanitary Commission ? 

How did the war compare with the Revolutionary War ? 

What advantage had each side ? 

What justification could the Confederates offer for their posi- 
tion ? 

What acts of theirs were indefensible ? 

What was the general feeling of both armies ? 

What did Mr. Lincoln say about the war in his second Inaugu 
ral Address ? 

CHAPTER XXXH. 

What tragedy took place just after the close of the war ? 
What was the character of President Lincoln ? 
What was his funeral ? 
Who took his place ? 
What became of the army ? 

What different views prevailed as to the reconstruction of th 
Southern States ? 
What successive steps were taken ? 
What conditions were made with the Southern States ? 
What were the president's vetoes ? 
Describe his impeachment trial. 

What had happened during his term and President Lincoln's ? 
What three States had been added to the Union? 
How and when were they formed ? 
Describe the purchase of Alaska. 
What was its price and size ? 
How large had the nation become ? 
How many States and Territories ? 



32 YOUNG FOLKS UNITED STATES. 

What was the population of the United States in 1870 ? 
Who was the next president ? 
How much of the national debt has been paid ? 
W^at is the " Fifteenth Amendment" to the Constitution ? 
What was the Geneva tribunal ? 
What statesmen of the war have since died ? 
What new political questions are under discussion ? 
What material progress has been made ? 

Name some of those who have gained intellectual distinction in 
the United States. 

What example did the founders of the American colonies leave ? 

What had the nation first to prove ? 

What made the experiment difficult ? 

What is now the main duty of Americans ? 

What did President Lincoln say in his Gettysburg address ? 

CHAPTER XXXHI. 

How many terms did General Grant serve? 

What important event took place in the last year of Grant's- 
second term? 

Give some account of the great international exhibition, and its 
effect on American industry. 

Who succeeded General Grant as president ? 

What parties nominated candidates for the presidency ? 

Give some account of the excitement after the election had 
taken place. 

What happened for which the Constitution had provided no 
remedy ? 

How was the decision of the election finally made ? 

What measure of conciliation did President Hayes adopt which 
was much criticised ? 

What has the result proved ? 

Give some account oi the increase of population, as shown by 
the census of 1880. 

Does it seem probable that the increase will be as great from 
1880 to 1890 as in the preceding ten years? 

From what European country are we now receiving the greatest 
number of emigrants ? 

What evidence of national prosperity exists with regard to the 
payment of the national debt, and the return to specie-payments ? 



QUESTIONS. ^;^ 

What evidence of national prosperity exists with regard to the 
payment of the national debt, and the return to specie payments? 

Give some account of the evidence of prosperity, as shown by 
the increased industry of the nation. 

Who were the Republican and the Democratic candidates in the 
national election of iS8o ? 

Give some account of the assassination of President Garfield 
and the sympathy manifested throughout the civilized world. 

What peculiarity of the inaugural address of President Arthur is 
inentioned? and what does it indicate 'r 

Who were the candidates of the several parties in the election 
of 1884? 

Who was elected twenty-second president of the United States ? 

Describe the Civil Service Act. 

What is the tariff question? 

What position do the two leading parties take in regard to it? 

Who was chosen president in 1888? 

What new States and Territories were created during his admin- 
istration ? 

What was the population of the United States in 1890 ? 

Who was chosen president in 1892? 

Describe the World's Fair at Chicago. 

What political change took place in 1894? 

What new questions became important in politics? 

What is the Monroe Doctrine? 

What new State was added to the Union during President Cleve« 
land's second administration? 

How many States are there in all? 

Who was chosen twenty-fifth President of the United States? 

What caused the Spanish War? 

What important naval victories occurred? 

How long did it last? 

On what terms was it closed ? 

What is "territorial expansion"? 

Why is it urged and why opposed? 




■S^r 






/^ ^ °y/€^- .'^'-. \^ip:" /^x "^m^^ 




-" -o 



\ ^»:^^ /■% 



